THE   UNIVERSITY   OF    VIRGINIA 

MEMORIES  OF  HER  STUDENT-LIFE  AND  PROFESSORS 


Thomas  Jefferson,  at  sixty 
1743-1826 


See  page  21 


FRONTISPIECE 


THE 
UNIVERSITY    OF  VIRGINIA 

Memories  of  Her  Student-Life  and  Professors 


By 


DAVID  M.  R.  CULBRETH,  M.  D. 


"  Haec  olim  meminisse  juvabit 


NEW  YORK  AND  WASHINGTON 

THE  NEALE  PUBLISHING  COMPANY 

1908 


•  5 


COPYRIGHT,  1908,  BY 
THE  NEALE  PUBLISHING  COMPANY 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  I 

THOMAS   JEFFERSON— STUDENTS'    BENEFACTOR   AND   EXEMPLAR 

PAGE 

Early  knowledge  of  him  and  that  gained  through  various  conversa- 
tions with  Mr.  Wertenbaker,  who  remembered  him  well,  as  he 
did  his  younger  friend  Edgar  Allan  Poe;  personal  character- 
istics of  Mr.  Jefferson  as  outlined  by  Randall,  Webster,  Ran- 
dolph, Smith,  and  himself;  estate — depreciation  of;  hospitality, 
financial  troubles.  Students'  surprise  and  appreciation;  his 
principles  and  epigrams,-  etc 21 

CHAPTER   II 
THOMAS  JEFFERSON — AMBITIOUS  YOUNG  MAN  AND  STATESMAN 

Father's  characteristics  and  prominence;  his  own  early  life,  educa- 
tion, experience  at  William  and  Mary  College ;  personal  sorrows ; 
lawyer,  member  of  the  House  of  Burgesses,  Continental  Congress, 
and  Congress;  Shadwell  destroyed;  marriage;  death  of  Dabney 
Carr  and  its  episode ;  Patrick  Henry's  great  speech ;  John  Adams' 
eulogy;  Declaration  of  Independence — when,  where,  and  how 
composed;  religious  liberty,  public  reforms;  diffusion  of  knowl- 
edge; Governor,  Northwestern  Territory;  Minister  to  France, 
Secretary  of  State,  etc 39 

CHAPTER  III 
THOMAS  JEFFERSON — IDEAL  PARENT  AND  PRESIDENT 

Retires  to  Monticello;  daughter  Martha — Mrs.  Thomas  Mann  Ran- 
dolph— becomes  its  mistress;  Rochefoucauld-Liancourt's  visit; 
Excise  Law,  revolts  in  Pennsylvania;  Curtius  and  Camillus;  Jay 
Treaty;  Vice-President,  Talleyrand,  Alien  and  Sedition  Acts; 
President — Burr  Vice-President;  inauguration,  address,  princi- 
ples; death  of  daughter  Mary;  Judge  Samuel  Chase,  John  Ran- 
dolph; Embargo  Act;  administrations  compared;  retirement, 
declines  public  reception;  reconciliation  with  Adams;  employ- 
ment, advocate  and  user  of  machinery;  correspondence,  etc.  .  59 


6H7037 


8  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  IV 
THOMAS  JEFFERSON— ADVOCATE  OF  KNOWLEDGE  AND  EDUCATION 

PAGE 

University  of  Virginia — interest  in  "Diffusion  of  Knowledge";  his 
educational  plan,  bills  incorporating  same ;  Quesnay  French  Acad- 
emy; Swiss  College  of  Geneva;  correspondence  with  Joseph 
Priestley;  Mons.  Dupont  de  Nemours;  National  University  at 
Washington;  Professor  Pictet;  Joseph  C.  Cabell,  Dr.  Thomas 
Cooper,  Samuel  Knox;  sold  library  to  Congress;  letters  to  Dr. 
Jones,  Adams,  Burwell;  Lieutenant  Hall's  visit  to  Monticello; 
educational  plan  submitted  to  Peter  Carr;  Albemarle  Academy: 
Central  College — first  Board  of  Visitors;  Charles  Fenton  Mer- 
cer's plan;  Governor  Nicholas'  report,  etc 77 

CHAPTER  V 
THOMAS   JEFFERSON — FATHER   OF   THE   UNIVERSITY   OF   VIRGINIA 

The  Mercer  bill  vs.  Mr.  Jefferson's;  Mercer  in  Congress;  Mr.  Jef- 
ferson's Educational  Bill  of  1817-1818;  first  report  of  Central 
College  proposing  its  conversion  into  the  University  of  Virginia; 
Mr.  Jefferson's  final  draft  and  trial;  dreams  realized;  difficulty 
over  location;  Rockfish  Commission — its  report  to  Legislature; 
final  contest,  Mr.  Baldwin  of  Augusta;  First  Board  of  Visitors; 
Mr.  Jefferson  chosen  Rector ;  University's  architecture,  plans,  con- 
struction ;  Dr.  Thomas  Cooper's  opposition,  religious  apprehen- 
sions; selection  of  Ticknor  and  Bowditch;  buildings  advanced; 
monetary  difficulties ;  religious  doctrines ;  Father  of  our  Navy,  etc.  96 

CHAPTER   VI 
THOMAS  JEFFERSON — CHAMPION  OF  FREE-RELIGION  AND  GOVERNMENT 

Letters  to  Dr.  Cooper  and  James  Smith — religious  conditions  and 
ideas ;  student  discipline ;  denominational  schools  near  the  Uni- 
versity; letter  to  Gallatin,  ambition  for  the  University — remitting 
her  debts,  financial  difficulties  disappearing;  correspondence  with 
Cabell;  rotunda  begun;  letter  to  Judge  Johnson  defining  object 
of  the  Federalists;  letter  to  Cartwright  explaining  State  and 
Federal  powers;  letter  to  Adams  concerning  health  and  the 
University;  letter  to  President  Monroe  about  "Monroe  Doc- 
trine " ;  letters  to  Lafayette,  Cabell,  Jared  Sparks  and  Van  Buren ; 
Gilmer  seeking  professors  abroad;  buildings  completed  and 
described;  English  professors  arrive;  University  opened  March 
7,  1825 116 

CHAPTER  VII 
THOMAS  JEFFERSON— DEFENDER  OF  "  EQUAL  RIGHTS  TO  ALL  MEN  " 

Mr.  Jefferson's  letter  to  Giles ;  defense  against  letter  in  Enquirer,  by 
"American  Citizen";  letter  to  Madison  concerning  financial 


CONTENTS  9 

PAGE 

embarrassment;  Cabell's  continued  efforts  in  the  Legislature  for 
education;  Mr.  Jefferson's  letter  to  the  President,  John  Quincy 
Adams;  last  visit  to  the  University;  letter  to  Weightman;  final 
week,  and  death;  Madison's  letter  of  condolence;  funeral  and 
burial;  Andrew  K.  Smith's  letter  recounting  his  student  days 
and  recollection  of  Mr.  Jefferson's  sickness  and  interment;  re- 
flections upon  Mr.  Jefferson's  life  and  abilities 135 


CHAPTER     VIII 
CONDITIONS    DOMINATING    THE    SELECTION    OF    THE    UNIVERSITY 

Luther  M.  Reynolds — academic  and  professional  education — Pro- 
fessors Allen,  Horsford,  Norton,  Porter;  his  trip  to  Pennsylvania 
and  Kentucky,  where  he  frequently  saw  and  heard  Henry  Clay 
make  impressive  speeches ;  other  experiences  related  and  person- 
ages encountered  that  enthused  my  youthful  mind ;  his  high  appre- 
ciation of  college  training,  and  estimate  of  various  institutions, 
including  the  University  of  Virginia;  factors  that  led  me  to  select 
that  University,  etc 154 


CHAPTER   IX 
MAIDEN   TRIP  TO  WASHINGTON   AND  VIRGINIA 

Leaving  home  for  the  University;  visit  in  Baltimore  at  my  uncle's; 
short  stop  in  Washington;  first  inspection  of  the  Capitol;  view 
of  the  White  House,  Arlington;  made  a  friend  of  the  brakeman; 
Alexandria — its  seeming  antiquated  appearance;  Orange  and 
Alexandria  Railroad ;  Henry  Knox,  the  courteous  and  obliging 
brakeman;  Fairfax,  Bull  Run,  Manassas — Confederate  cemetery 
— Bristoe,  Catletts,  Warrenton  Junction  (Calvertbn),  Bealeton, 
Rappahannock,  Brandy,  Culpeper,  Rapidan,  Mitchell,  Cedar 
Mountain,  Orange,  Madison  (Montpelier),  Gordonsville,  etc.  .  173 


CHAPTER    X 
ARRIVAL  AT  THE  UNIVERSITY — MR.  JEFFERSON'S  CHILD  AND  PET 

Last  twenty-one  miles — Gordonsville  to  Charlottesville ;  Lindseys, 
Keswick,  Rivanna  River,  Shadwell — Mr.  Jefferson's  birthplace — 
Monticello,  his  home  and  place  of  burial;  Charlottesville — 
friendly  greeting  of  students;  arrival  at  the  University;  meeting 
the  Proctor,  Major  Peyton,  and  the  Chairman,  Colonel  Venable, 
with  whom  I  dined ;  letter  from  Colonel  Charles  Marshall ;  select- 
ing room ;  passing  of  the  first  few  days ;  first  letter  home ;  Uni- 
versity work  selected  and  begun — its  character ;  meeting  students ; 
mass  meeting  in  the  Court  House,  etc 193 


io  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  XI 

FIRST  VISIT  TO  MONTICELLO — MR.  JEFFERSON'S  HOME  AND  GRAVE 

PAGE 

Monticello— visit  to  Lawrenceville  and  Princeton;  Aaron  Burr's 
grave  and  tomb  contrasted  with  those  of  Mr.  Jefferson's ;  pilgrim 
students  journeying  on  foot  to  his  home  and  tomb;  description 
and  dilapidation  of  both;  now  happily  restored — the  one  by 
Jefferson  M.  Levy,  the  other  by  act  of  Congress;  his  tomb  in- 
scription, also  that  of  Dabney  Carr ;  home-letter  to  grandmother ; 
secret  fraternities;  literary  societies — Jeff  and  Wash;  method  of 
electing  officers,  etc 210 


CHAPTER   XII 
LITERARY   SOCIETIES;   DEBATES  AND  CELEBRATIONS 

Became  a  member  of  the  Jeff ;  recorded  many  of  the  debates,  excerpts 
from  a  few — Wickes,  Saunders,  Smith,  Herron,  Brent,  Green, 
Clark,  etc.;  trip  home  at  Christmas;  excerpts  from  diary;  sick- 
ness and  death  of  Professor  McGuffey;  accident  to  room-mate — 
Pearce ;  closing  weeks  of  the  session ;  remained  for  Commence- 
ment; sermon  by  Rev.  J.  William  Jones;  Wash  Celebration — 
Richard  H.  Maury,  John  W.  Stephenson,  Fergus  R.  Graham; 
Jeff  Celebration— B.  Chambers  Wickes,  William  R.  Alexander, 
John  Sharp  Williams,  etc. 230 


CHAPTER   XIII 
COMMENCEMENT — ADDRESSES  AND  BANQUET — SESSION   1872-73 

Commencement  of  1873  continued;  memorial  address  on  Professor 
Gessner  Harrison,  by  Rev.  John  A.  Broadus;  Joint  Celebration 
— Hon.  Thomas  F.  Bayard;  Commencement  or  Final  Day — 
alumni  address  by  Ex-Governor  Thomas  Swann;  alumni  ban- 
quet— to  which  a  few  of  us  students  were  invited  to  enjoy  the 
good  things  and  speeches;  escorted  two  of  the  honored  guests, 
Senator  Bayard  and  Ex-Governor  Swann,  to  Professor  Venable's 
home;  death  and  funeral  of  Mr.  Swann,  etc 250 


CHAPTER   XIV 
INCIDENTS   AND   COMMENCEMENT  OF   SESSION   1873-74 

Session  of  1873-74;  democratic  set  of  students;  Professor  Noah  K. 
Davis;  excerpts  from  home-letters;  Gen.  Wade  Hampton's  lec- 
ture; death  of  Mrs.  Venable,  also  Dr.  Henry  Howard;  Jeff  and 
Wash  interests;  Episcopal  Convention;  Commencement — sermons 
by  Revs.  T.  D.  Witherspoon  and  James  A.  Duncan;  Wash 
Celebration— T.  L.  Raymond,  R.  A.  Saulsbury,  J.  St.  Clair 


CONTENTS  ii 

PAGE 

Brookes;  Jeff  Celebration— F.  F.  Reese,  M.  W.  Ransom,  Jr., 
J.  A.  Powell ;  Joint  Celebration — Hon.  John  Goode,  Gen.  Jubal  A. 
Early;  alumni  address — Judge  J.  H.  Kennard;  session  1874-75; 
Semi-centennial;  Bayard  Taylor,  Daniel  B.  Lucas;  Jeff  and 
Wash  changes;  Rev.  Dr.  Steel's  marriage;  Mrs.  Cabell's  death, 
etc 271 


CHAPTER  XV 
INCIDENTS  AND  COMMENCEMENT  OF  SESSION   1874-75 

Session  1874-75  continued.  Address  of  Rev.  Dr.  Randolph  H.  McKim ; 
Selection  of  Jeff,  and  Wash,  officers.  Sermon  by  Rev.  Dr.  Robert 
L.  Dabney.  Sermon  by  Rev.  Dr.  R.  N.  Sledd.  Typhoid  epi- 
demic; Baseball  games.  Commencement — Semi-Centennial  Cele- 
bration: Sermon  by  Rev.  Dr.  W.  T.  Brantly;  Wash.  Celebra- 
tion— Geo.  Ben.  Johnston,  Henry  C.  Stuart,  Charles  E.  Nicol; 
Jeff.  Celebration — Benj.  Fitzpatrick,  A.  M.  Robinson,  Leo  N. 
Levi.  Alumni  Celebration — Daniel  B.  Lucas,  Gen.  Jubal  A. 
Early,  Robert  M.  T.  Hunter ;  Commencement  Day — Gen.  John  S. 
Preston;  Alumni  Banquet;  Final  Ball,  etc 


CHAPTER  XVI 

INCIDENTS    AND    COMMENCEMENT    OF    SESSION    1875-76 

Session  1875-76:  Sickness,  death  and  funeral  of  Thomas  Jefferson 
Randolph.  Home-letters — another  visit  to  Monticello;  failure 
of  the  Charlottesville  National  Bank;  Bible  classes.  Former  and 
present  chaplains;  Davis  becomes  business  editor  of  the  Maga- 
zine. Professor  Thornton  succeeds  Professor  Boeck.  Election; 
Christmas;  Earthquake;  social  pleasures,  dancing.  Edward  H. 
Squibb  Gymnasium.  Literary  Societies.  Davis — Sunday  School 
Supt.  at  Chapel.  Visit  to  Rev.  John  T.  Randolph's.  Religious 
meetings.  John  Jasper's  sermon;  Commencement — Ralph  Waldo 
Emerson,  etc 308 

CHAPTER  XVII 

INCIDENTS   AND    PLEASURES   OF    SESSION    1876-77 

Session  1876-77;  Professor  Gildersleeve  missed.  Sons  of  Confucius. 
Tilden  and  Hayes  campaign — dangers  experienced.  Dr.  Dame's 
sermon.  Students'  Minstrel  Troup.  Christmas.  Dr.  Wither- 
spoon's  sermon.  Literary  Societies.  Boat  Club.  Trip  to  Staun- 
ton.  Baseball  with  Washington  and  Lee.  Lexington  as  a  seat  of 
learning — visit  thereto;  her  noted  personages,  living  and  dead. 
Observance  in  Baltimore  of  Gen.  Lee's  death  and  burial — our 
regrets  that  he  and  Jackson  had  not  been  connected  with  the 
University;  Jackson's  ambition  to  succeed  Professor  Courtenay 
in  mathematics,  etc 3^9 


12  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER    XVIII 

INCIDENTS  AND  COMMENCEMENT  OF  SESSION  1876-77 

PAGE 

General  Lee's  possible  identification  and  association  with  the  Uni- 
versity; deaths  of  Commodore  Maury  and  Mrs.  Lee.  Off  for 
Lexington,  via  Goshen;  pleasant  midnight  reception,  and  sight- 
seeing of  the  next  two  days.  Gen.  Hunter's  destructive  visit  in 
1864;  Baseball  game  and  banquet.  Commencement,  June,  1877. 
Address  by  Maj.  John  W.  Daniel.  Final  Day  and  Ball.  First 
regatta  at  Lynchburg,  crowned  with  accident  and  defeat,  etc.  348 


CHAPTER   XIX 
PROFESSORS — PERSONAL  CHARACTERISTICS  AND  TRAITS 

The  Professors— Mr.  Jefferson's  high  ideal ;  a  noble  band  of  faithful, 
painstaking  workers,  especially  interested  in  industrious  students 
to  whom  they  extended  social  courtesies;  our  appreciation  of 
their  talents  and  personalities — profound  attention  and  respect  in 
class,  etc.  Charles  S.  Venable— appearance,  dress,  quick  insight 
of  students;  interviews  and  visits  after  my  University  career; 
his  address  in  Baltimore.  William  E.  Peters— appearance  and 
characteristics ;  great  interest  in  his  ambitious  students — annoyed 
by  stupid  laggards.  Last  visit  to  him,  April,  1904 366 


CHAPTER   XX 
PROFESSORS — PERSONAL  CHARACTERISTICS  AND  TRAITS 

Francis  Henry  Smith,  characteristics,  accomplishments  and  popular- 
ity; loyal  to  his  teacher  and  predecessor,  William  B.  Rogers — 
sketch  of  latter.  Maximilian  Schele  De  Vere,  characteristics 
and  popularity ;  students'  pranks ;  last  visit  to  him,  1894 ;  his 
semi-centennial ;  value  as  an  American  scholar.  Basil  Lanneau 
Gildersleeve,  characteristics  and  traits ;  war  incidents ;  class- 
room diversions;  regret  at  his  leaving  the  University;  personal 
letters,  etc 384 


CHAPTER   XXI 
PROFESSORS— PERSONAL  CHARACTERISTICS  AND  TRAITS 

John  William  Mallet — characteristics  and  traits;  beautiful  lecturer, 
accurate,  safe  and  pains-taking  experimenter;  fine  teacher  with 
much  dignity.  George  Frederick  Holmes,  characteristics— tall 
gaunt  form;  enjoyed  students'  applause,  our  strong  regard  for 
him;  a  public  lecturer  of  merit.  John  Staige  Davis — personal 
traits  and  magnetism,  brilliant  and  healthful  teacher,  high  sense 


CONTENTS  13 

PAGE 

of  honor,  facetious  humor,  kind  and  sympathetic.  James  Law- 
rence Cabell— distinguished  ^  personality,  strong  character,  gifted 
intellect,  kind  knowing  physician ;  personal  letter.  James  Francis 
Harrison — characteristics,  brusque  mannerism,  popular  with 
students  and  in  the  University  management 404 


CHAPTER   XXII 
PROFESSORS — PERSONAL  CHARACTERISTICS  AND  TRAITS 

William  Holmes  McGuffey — appearance  and  dress,  liberal  thinker 
and  Presbyterian;  sickness,  death,  funeral,  burial;  successor; 
life  work  and  greatness.  John  Barbee  Minor — great  moral  and 
legal  teacher;  appearance,  hard  worker;  Christian  home  life; 
loyal  to  the  University  during  the  Civil  War.  Noah  Knowles 
Davis — personal  characteristics,  close  observer,  deep  thinker,  hard 
worker,  mingled  little  with  the  world ;  Sunday  afternoon  Bible 
lectures.  Francis  Perry  Dunnington — appearance,  reserved  man- 
ner, accurate  worker  and  good  teacher 423 


CHAPTER   XXIII 
PROFESSORS — PERSONAL   CHARACTERISTICS   AND   TRAITS 

Leopold  Jules  Boeck — nativity,  personality;  great  linguist;  resigna- 
tion. Stephen  O.  Southall — characteristics,  fine  speaker;  popular 
with  students.  John  Randolph  Page — characteristics ;  course  unpop- 
ular; resignation.  Thomas  Randolph  Price,  successor  to  Pro- 
fessor Gildersleeve ;  characteristics ;  home  quite  a  social  factor. 
William  Wertenbaker,  Librarian;  youth,  training;  appointed 
by  Mr.  Jefferson.  M.  Green  Peyton,  Proctor — personality,  good 
official,  friendly  to  all  students.  Henry  Martin,  Janitor — per- 
sonal traits,  affable,  dignified  but  friendly 442 


CHAPTER    XXIV 

.  j 
SUMMARY  OF  UNIVERSITY  LIFE — DUTIES  VERSUS  PLEASURES 

University  life  falsely  understood  by  many;  in  truth  exacting  and 
filled  with  cares,  but  had  a  bright  side.  Unusual  condition  at 
the  University  for  close  study  and  thorough  scholarship. 
Methods  of  diversion — pleasurable  walking,  ball  games,  gym- 
nasium, skating,  theatricals,  minstrels,  short  trips,  attending 
church,  Bible  and  public  lectures.  Social  visiting — dancing,  re- 
ceptions, games,  horseback  riding,  driving,  musical  instruments 
and  practice;  debating  societies;  secret  fraternities.  University 
laws  seldom  violated,  etc 460 


I4  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER   XXV 

UNIVERSITY  TRAINING,  SELECTION  AND  CRITICISM 

PAGE 

Conclusions  and  Observations.  College  and  university  training — 
some  more  desirable  than  others;  all  improve  the  type  of  man- 
hood and  chances  of  success  in  life ;  none  makes  wise  men  out  of 
fools.  Few  older  heads  advise,  but  let  the  youthful  select  for 
themselves.  University  criticised  by  some  alumni  for  extreme 
thoroughness,  and  other  institutions  for  excessive  weakness. 
Kind  of  students  best  suited  to  attend  the  University — some 
should  not  go  there.  Conditions  especially  commending  the  Uni- 
versity versus  those  considered  negative.  Opinions  of  some 
students  of  my  day — discussion  that  did  good 472 

Index 495 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

Thomas   Jefferson Frontispiece 

FACING  PAGE 

Monticello         24 

Thomas  Jefferson  Randolph 34 

Monticello   Graveyard 34 

University — Lawn    View 44 

University — Eastern    View        54 

University — Western  View 62 

University — Birds-eye  View 72 

University — The    Lawn        82 

University — The    Rotunda        92 

University — East    Wing    of   Rotunda 102 

University— West  Lawn 114 

University — West   Lawn    Arcade 124 

University — East  Range 134 

University — West  Range   Arcade 142 

University — Serpentine    Walls 152 

University— Carr's    Hill 162 

University— Medical    Hall        i?2 

University — Infirmary 172 

University — Hospital 182 

University — Chemical  Laboratory 190 

University — Mechanical    Laboratory        190 

University — Rouss  Physical  Laboratory 200 

University — Academic    Building         210 

University — Lewis    Brooks    Museum 220 

University — McCormick  Observatory 230 

University — Madison    Hall 230 

University — Chapel           238 

University — Fayerweather   Gymnasium 248 


16  ILLUSTRATIONS 

FACING  PAGE 

University — Randall   Dormitory 258 

University— Medical    Class        268 

University — Travesties          278 

President,  Edwin  A.  Alderman,  LL.  D 286 

Professor   Charles    S.   Venable,    LL.    D 296 

Professor  William  E.  Peters,  LL.  D 306 

Professor  Francis  H'.  Smith,  LL.  D 316 

Professor   M.   Schele  DeVere,   J.   U.  D 326 

Professor  Basil  L.  Gildersleeve,  LL.  D 334 

Professor  John  W.  Mallet,  LL.  D.,  F.  R.  S 344 

Professor  George  Frederick  Holmes,  LL.  D 354 

Professor  John  Staige  Davis,  A.  M.,  M.  D 364 

Professor  James   L.   Cabell,   LL.   D 374 

Professor  James  F.  Harrison,  M.  D 382 

Professor  William  H.  McGuffey,  LL.  D .     .     .392 

Professor  John  B.  Minor,  LL.  D 402 

Professor  Noah  K.  Davis,  LL.  D 412 

Professor  Francis  P.  Dunnington,  B.  Sc 422 

Professor  Leopold  J.   Boeck,   Ph.   D 430 

Professor  Stephen  O.   Southall,  LL.  D 440 

Professor   John    R.    Page,    M.    D 450 

Professor  Thomas  R.   Price,   LL.   D 460 

Librarian,    William    Wertenbaker 470 

Proctor,  M.  Green  Peyton,  B.  A.,  C.  E .     .478 

Janitor,  Uncle  Henry  Martin 488 


PREFACE 

AFTER  the  passing  of  a  generation  from  the  busy  activities 
of  life  at  the  University  it  may  seem  strange  that  a  casual 
alumnus  inclines  to  turn  from  absorbing  current  events  and 
look  backward  through  dim-visioned  eyes  upon  scenes  of 
earlier  days.  As  a  fact,  however,  he  is  still  to  himself,  despite 
growing  old  in  the  sight  of  others,  the  same  young  man  sitting 
on  those  hard  wooden  benches — for  he  continues  to  absorb  and 
learn  daily  unfamiliar  truths  as  in  those  formative  years.  In- 
deed, with  recurring  frequency  and  delight  the  retrospect  con- 
tinues to  awaken  memories,  not  as  of  the  distant  past,  but  of 
the  near-by  yesterday,  and  through  an  ambition  that  such  be 
preserved  while  under  happy  recognition — ere  the  dawn  of 
mental  decline  and  obscurity — and  that  a  passing  fancy  for 
the  task  be  gratified,  this  work  has  been  permitted  to  see  light. 

The  author  claims  no  special  aptitude  over  legions  of  the 
University's  loyal  sons  for  producing  a  reminiscent  volume; 
certainly  he  regrets  that  some  one  more  gifted  has  not  here- 
tofore made  good  the  opportunity  of  a  richer  product  along 
similar  lines — a  hope  that  has  occasioned  much  deliberation, 
if  not  delay,  in  compiling  his  own  available  material.  Such 
a  work  might  be  regarded  as  coming  best  from  that  fortunate 
coterie  detailed  these  many  years  at  the  University  in  one  or 
another  capacity — enjoying  the  closest  contact  with  her  daily 
life — but  glimpses  from  within  are  often  less  real  than  those 
from  without,  and  it  is  ever  wholesome  "  to  see  ourselves  as 
others  see  us."  In  truth  few  have  worshipped  at  that  altar 
and  gone  forth  into  chosen  ways  unmindful  of  her  history, 
unimbued  with  her  love,  or  untrained  in  stating  facts — those 
readily  correlated  by  one  and  all — such  as  it  has  been  the  effort 
here  to  record,  some  possibly  through  filial  affection  a  little 
tinted  but  in  the  main  void  of  any  intent  at  exaggeration  or 
misrepresentation.  The  University  needs  no  deceptive  cham- 
pion, the  truth  is  quite  sufficient — whether  her  sons  become 
great,  perhaps  small,  by  or  in  spite  of  her  training,  argues  not 


i8  PREFACE 

the  slightest  against  her  intellectual  forces  and  moral  ideals 
being  the  highest. 

The  conception  of  the  work,  like  many  undertakings,  was 
largely  accidental — growing  out  of  the  preservation  by  parents 
of  the  author's  University  letters,  the  recording  by  him  of 
weekly  doings,  a  form  of  diary,  and  the  retention  of  photo- 
graphs, magazines,  newspaper  articles  and  his  side  of  a  liberal 
correspondence  belonging  to  those  times. 

The  chapters  pertaining  to  Mr.  Jefferson  and  the  founding 
of  the  University — the  capstone  of  his  fruitful  life — have  in 
substance  been  collected  from  most  reliable  sources,  supple- 
mented by  the  innumerable  fragmentary  conversations  with 
Mr.  Wertenbaker.  Not  that  his  ipse  dixit  is  believed  more 
accurate  than  others,  but  being  the  only  conversant  cotem- 
porary  of  Mr.  Jefferson  known  then  to  the  author,  whatever 
he  said  or  indorsed  as  said  by  others  seemed  to  receive  a 
vitalizing  influence.  The  recounting  of  experiences  and  oc- 
currences of  the  several  sessions  has  been  restricted  to  those 
making  strongest  impression  upon  the  individual,  relieved 
largely  of  detail  incident  to  the  average  student's  life,  wherein 
slight  variation  can  exist.  Preparing  for  lectures,  attendance 
thereon,  fraternity  meetings,  social  visiting,  even  interest  in 
various  young  ladies,  belong  practically  to  so  many  alike  as  to 
need  little,  if  any,  reference. 

The  impressions  of  my  professors  have  been  given  without 
reserve,  and  include  much  personal  detail — that  frequently 
recognized  unworthy  of  transmission,  since  it  is  claimed  not 
to  edify  but  only  to  appease  curiosity.  Many  delight  in  Mr. 
Lincoln's  witticisms,  indifferent  to  his  tall  homely  personality ; 
not  a  few  desire  critical  knowledge  of  Napoleon's  pyrotechnic 
career,  regardless  of  his  diminutive  stature — contented  with 
the  common  weakness  of  always  associating  intuitively  physi- 
cal largeness  with  mental  greatness — while  some  prefer  an 
intelligent  conception  of  the  man  as  well  as  his  works.  The 
author  wondered  over  the  proportions  of  Mr.  Jefferson  long 
before  meeting  Mr.  Wertenbaker,  and  was  only  too  glad  to 
accept  from  his  lips  valuable  details,  and  be  directed  for  the 
first  time  to  Mr.  Webster's  contribution  in  that  direction. 
Here,  therefore,  an  effort  has  been  made,  as  far  as  memory 
serves,  to  remove  individual  uncertainties,  so  that  even  the 


PREFACE  19 

stranger  comparing  description  and  portrait  may  have  a  mind- 
vision  of  the  personage. 

Many  will  consider  both  object  and  matter  unworthy  a 
laudable  ambition ;  some  will  claim,  "  it  fails  reach  the  mark 
the  archer  meant/'  while  a  few — those  for  whom  the  volume 
chiefly  is  intended — will  accept  gladly  anything  concerning 
their  alma  mater  honestly  intended  to  encourage  a  remem- 
brance of  her  past,  an  interest  in  her  present,  and  a  stimulus 
for  her  future. 

If  it  may  only  impress  the  greatness  of  Mr.  Jefferson, 
strengthen  a  belief  in  his  doctrines  and  hasten  their  reaccept- 
ance  in  the  land  of  his  creation;  or  incline  the  doubting 
towards  a  university  training — perchance  at  her  shrine — and 
refresh  youthful  years  there  enjoyed,  it  will  not  have  been 
written  in  vain. 

THE  AUTHOR. 
BALTIMORE,  Ma,  October,   1908. 


The 


University   of  Virginia 


CHAPTER   I 

THOMAS  JEFFERSON — STUDENTS'  BENEFACTOR  AND  • 
EXEMPLAR  :      •    s    *  >."'•• 


Early  knowledge  of  him  and  that  gained  through  various  conversations 
with  Mr.  Wertenbaker,  who  remembered  him  well,  as  he  did  his 
younger  friend  Edgar  Allan  Poe;  personal  characteristics  of  Mr. 
Jefferson  as  outlined  by  Randall,  Webster,  Randolph,  Smith,  and  him- 
self;  estate — depreciation  of;  hospitality,  financial  troubles.  Students' 
surprise  and  appreciation;  his  principles  and  epigrams,  etc. 

IN  my  day  at  the  University  of  Virginia  one  required  only 
a  brief  brushing  up  against  the  students,  old  and  new,  to  be 
convinced  of  their  extraordinary  knowledge  of  Mr.  Jefferson, 
as  he  was  called  always  by  us  with  a  respect  and  pride  ap- 
proximating filial  veneration.  Especially  was  this  noticeable 
in  those  coming  from  Virginia  and  in  that  contingent  deeply 
interested  in  the  weekly  debates  of  the  Jeff,  and  Wash.  Socie- 
ties. This  to  me  was  a  sort  of  revelation,  for  of  his  greatness 
I  knew  little,  inasmuch  as  I  had  simply  learned  from  school 
histories  that  he  was  our  third  President;  had  occupied  the 
honorable  position  two  terms;  had  represented  the  opposing 
party  to  Washington,  Adams,  Hamilton,  Marshall  and  Jay, 
and  had  made  more  than  an  ordinary  impression  upon  the 
then  civilized  world  during  his  many  years  of  public  service. 
Among  the  small  collection  of  books  at  my  home  was  the 
"  Life  of  Jefferson,"  by  Tucker,  but  of  this  I  had  only  read 
with  profit  that  short  portion  in  the  second  volume  pertaining 
to  the  founding  -of  the  University.  In  my  first  visit  to  the 
library  I  gazed  with  admiration  upon  a  beautiful  white  marble 

21 


22  UNIVERSITY    OF   VIRGINIA 

statue  (Gait's),  enclosed  by  a  high  iron  railing,  whose  rect- 
angular pedestal  bore  the  inscription: 

THOMAS   JEFFERSON 

Author  of 

The  Declaration  of  American  Independence; 

Of  the  Statute  of  Virginia  for 

Religious  Freedom; 

and 

Father  of  the  University  of  Virginia. 

Born  April  2,  1743,  O.   S. 

Died  July  4,  1826. 

I  also  encountered  the  librarian,  Mr.  Wertenbaker,  then  ap- 
parently a  very  old  man,  who  recognizing  in  me  a  new  student, 
volunteered  itlie  names  of  the  several  portraits  suspended 
-against  •  the 'columns — Joseph  C.  Cabell,  Gessner  Harrison, 
Charles  ;Banriycas;tle,  Thomas  Hewett  Key,  Robley  Dunglison, 
'Ecfweirxl'  Pi.  Cotirtenay,  John  P.  Emmet,  Socrates  Maupin, 
Robert  E.  Lee,  etc. — along  with  numerous  historic  facts,  in- 
cluding that  he  had  seen  Mr.  Jefferson  many  times  in  the  flesh 
and  from  him  had  received,  nearly  fifty  years  before,  the  ap- 
pointment to  his  present  position.  Seeing  I  was  interested, 
he  absented  himself,  but  in  a  moment  returned  with  a  small 
dark  frame  held  carefully  in  his  hands.  This,  he  remarked, 
is  the  evidence  of  what  I  have  just  said ;  I  prize  it  most  highly, 
but  you  may  read  it  if  you  will  be  cautious  in  the  handling. 
Upon  inspection  it  proved  to  be  the  original  well-preserved 
letter  of  notification  from  Mr.  Jefferson,  in  his  own  hand- 
writing, and  is  self-explanatory: 

To  Mr.  Wm.  Wertenbaker: 

SIR, — The  office  of  librarian  to  the  University  of  Virginia  having  be- 
come vacant  by  the  resignation  of  Mr.  Kean,  and  the  authority  of  ultimate 
appointment  being  in  the  Board  of  Visitors,  it  becomes  necessary,  in  the 
meantime,  to  place  the  library  under  the  temporary  care  of  some  one; 
you  are,  therefore,  hereby  appointed  to  take  charge  thereof  until  the 
Visitors  shall  make  their  final  appointment.  You  will  be  entitled  to  a 
compensation  at  the  rate  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  dollars  a  year,  to  be 
paid  by  the  Proctor  from  the  funds  of  the  University.  An  important  part 
of  your  charge  will  be  to  keep  the  books  in  a  state  of  sound  preservation, 
tmdefaced,  and  free  from  injury  by  moisture  or  other  accident,  and  in 
their  stated  arrangement  on  the  shelves  according  to  the  method  and 
order  of  their  catalogue.  Your  other  general  duties  and  rules  of  conduct 
are  prescribed  in  the  printed  collection  of  the  enactments  of  the  Board 
of  Visitors.  Of  these  rules  the  Board  will  expect  the  strictest  observ- 
ance on  your  part,  and  that  you  use  the  utmost  care  and  vigilance  that 
they  be  strictly  observed  by  others.  Given  under  my  hand  this  3Oth  day 
of  January,  1826.  TH.  JEFFERSON. 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  23 

To  me  that  certainly  was  a  most  profitable  hour,  as  it  not 
only  gave  rise  to  a  positive  determination  to  accept  the  ad- 
vantages of  the  library  along  with  the  required  duties,  but  also 
to  a  close  friendship  with  the  librarian — that  enjoyed  by  few 
students — which  continued  ever  cordial  throughout  my  course. 
Some  days  thereafter  I  repeated  my  visit,  and  while  there 
chanced  to  observe  on  one  of  the  tables  a  moderate-sized  vol- 
ume with  a  fresh,  attractive  green  cloth  binding,  titled  "  The 
Domestic  Life  of  Thomas  Jefferson."  This  was  by  his  gifted 
great  granddaughter,  Sarah  N.  Randolph,  who  resided  with 
her  father  and  sister  on  the  old  homestead,  Edgehill,  some 
five  miles  distant,  where  they  conducted  in  the  pretentious 
brick  mansion  a  private  boarding  school  for  young  ladies, 
which  then  enjoyed  a  substantial  reputation  in  many  parts  of 
the  South.  The  book  had  only  appeared  the  year  before 
(1871),  and  had  just  been  returned  by  one  of  the  professors, 
so  I  concluded  this  my  opportunity  for  learning  more  of  Mr. 
Jefferson.  Upon  the  asking,  Mr.  Wertenbaker  cheerfully 
granted  its  loan — recording  its  title,  date,  my  name  and  room 
number.  In  due  time  I  followed  this  with  other  lives — 
Tucker,  Randall,  Schmucker — which,  with  the  Jeffersonian 
atmosphere  pervading  the  community,  soon  sufficed  to  create 
intelligently  in  me  an  ardent  admiration  for  the  man  and  his 
principles. 

Ever  afterwards  the  library  somehow  possessed  for  me  a 
peculiar  fascination — whether  due  to  its  classic  architecture, 
its  contained  literature,  its  vivid  souvenirs  and  reminders  of 
the  quiet  as  well  as  turbulent  past,  or  to  Mr.  Wertenbaker's 
personality,  or  to  these  collectively,  need  not  be  affirmed,  but 
the  fact  remained  that  I  was  allured  into  spending  frequently 
hours  there  that  might  have  possibly. been  devoted  elsewhere 
to  greater  advantage.  It  was,  however,  far  from  idle  pastime 
to  sit  facing  that  senile  personage,  never  garrulous,  and  quietly 
imbibe  his  ruminations  of  bygones — such  as  at  times,  when  the 
spirit  moved,  he  willingly  communicated  to  the  patient  and  in- 
terested. His  birth,  youth,  manhood  and  old  age  had  followed 
each  other  in  and  around  Charlottesville,  where  he  remembered 
the  enactment  of  most  important  events  since  that  day  in 
1809  on  which  Mr.  Jefferson  returned  from  the  occupancy  of 
the  White  House. 


24  UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA 

He  was  filled  with  pleasant  recollections,  not  only  of  Mr. 
Jefferson  and  the  creation  of  the  University,  but  he  had  seen 
time  and  again — even  enjoyed  their  conversation — such 
worthy  celebrities  as  Madison,  Monroe,  Lafayette,  Cabell,  Gil- 
mer,  Poe,  Long,  Bonnycastle,  Emmet,  Blaetterman,  Key, 
Dunglison,  Courtenay,  Bledsoe  and  countless  others,  and  better 
yet,  still  retained  to  a  remarkable  extent,  accurate  impressions 
of  their  respective  personalities.  How  he  delighted  to  defend 
his  poet  classmate,  Edgar  Allan  Poe,  students  together  at  the 
University  during  its  second  session,  when  they  enjoyed  each 
other's  friendship  and  confidence  to  a  felicitous  degree.  It 
was  as  though  an  oracle  sat  recounting  mysterious  experiences 
with  that  scintillating  and  lugubrious  genius — so  gifted  then 
in  many  languages  as  to  excel  his  associates,  and  even  in 
Italian,  at  Professor  Blaetterman' s  assigning  the  rendition  into 
English  verse  parts  of  Tasso  and  other  authors,  to  be  usually 
the  only  one  of  the  class  living  up  to  the  requirement.  It, 
however,  was  no  dream,  nor  the  fiction  of  The  Raven,  when 
he  recalled  a  certain  cold  night  in  December,  1826,  on  which, 
after  spending  together  its  early  hours  at  a  private  house 
socially,  they  wended  their  way  to  Poe's  room,  13  West  Range, 
to  find  the  fire  in  "  dying  embers,"  but  soon  to  be  rekindled 
by  that  gifted  hand  with  some  candle-ends  and  the  wreck  of 
a  table,  in  order  to  recount  in  comfort  before  the  blaze  real 
as  well  as  imaginary  grievances  against  man  and  the  world. 
It  was  an  open  confession — a  sad  story — as  Poe  referred 
with  regret  to  money  wasted  and  debt  contracted,  forsooth, 
of  an  ungovernable  thirst  for  card-playing — not  for  drinking, 
as  that  to  him  was  then  almost  an  unknown  vice.  That  remi- 
niscence possesses  a  charm  tinctured  with  pathos  never  to  be 
forgotten — immutable  in  the  mind  as  are  many  of  our  earlier 
lessons. 

Indeed  after  a  talk  with  Mr.  Wertenbaker  it  seemed  no 
imaginative  effort  to  realize  Mr.  Jefferson  on  horseback  riding 
through  West  Range  to  the  rear  of  the  original  library — 
fourth  pavilion  from  the  Rotunda,  West  Lawn,  occupied  at 
my  period,  first  by  Professor  Leopold  J.  Boeck,  and  later  by 
Professor  Noah  K.  Davis — dismounting,  hitching  his  horse 
and  hastening  within  to  assist  the  librarian,  Kean  or  Werten- 
baker, in  properly  classifying  various  books;  or  perchance 


o 

II 


ft! 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  25 

hurrying  along  the  Lawn  to  the  Rotunda  that  he  might  give 
and  see  executed  orders,  as  well  as  watch  its  progress  and 
finish — a  stage  it  had  not  quite  reached  even  at  his  death. 
Truly  all  of  us  recognized  that  every  brick  trod  had  in  the 
long-ago  received  the  impress  of  nobler  feet;  every  hall  and 
room  frequented  had  been  consecrated  by  the  touch  of  him, 
our  great  founder,  who  alone  pioneered  the  very  walks  we 
journeyed  in  the  discharge  of  our  daily  duties.  Despite  the 
sentiment  of  the  Good  Book,  "  a  prophet  is  not  without  honor 
save  in  his  own  country,"  and  that  of  our  greatest  poet : 

"The  evil  that  men  do  lives  after  them; 
The  good  is  oft  interred  with  their  bones." 

Mr.  Jefferson  stands  a  shining  exception  to  their  application 
in  the  County  that  gave  him  birth  and  burial.  There  may 
have  been  many,  and  still  some,  who  disagreed  with  his  tenets 
and  doctrines,  but  all  unprejudiced,  knowing  individuals  at 
that  time  and  place  delighted  in  calling  him  great.  Apart 
from  his  illustrious  deeds  I  was  interested  in  and  solicitous 
for  first-handed  knowledge  of  his  personal  appearance  and 
characteristics — qualities  of  which  I  then  knew  accurately 
little,  but  Mr.  Wertenbaker  much — such,  be  it  to  his  credit,  in 
spite  of  natural  reticence  and  disinclination  to  wasting  words, 
he  took  delight  in  communicating.  He,  however,  always  de- 
clared that  Randall  in  preparing  Mr.  Jefferson's  biography 
had  enjoyed  to  the  fullest  extent  the  entree  and  confidence  of 
the  family  descendants  (Randolphs  and  Carrs),  as  to  record 
in  such  matters  of  detail  about  the  truth  and  that  he  could 
simply  verify  those  statements.  He  remembered  Mr.  Jeffer- 
son in  his  gray  suit,  clerical  cut  tall  collar,  wide  white  cravat 
and  low  black  slouch  hat,  and  considered  him  more  impressive 
than  handsome — being  unusually  tall,  six  feet  two  and  a  half 
inches,  erect,  slender,  sinewy,  filling  out  in  his  best  years  to 
good  proportions,  yet  never  beyond  one  hundred  and  sixty- 
five  pounds.  His  step  was  elastic  and  vigorous;  face  angular 
but  beamed  with  cheerfulness,  benevolence  and  intelligence; 
skin  freckled  and  suffused  with  superficial  capillaries  produc- 
ing a  delicately  fair  and  ruddy  complexion;  cuticle  very  thin 
and  fragile,  consequently  peeling  off  easily  after  the  slightest 


26  UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA 

exposure  to  sun  and  wind;  hair  parted  in  the  middle,  luxur- 
ious, silken,  reddish-chestnut  or  auburn — when  minister  to 
France  intermingled  with  a  few  white  strands,  which  greatly 
increased  during  his  presidency  and  until  death,  then  being 
much  whitened  but  retaining  the  sandy  tinge  very  perceptibly ; 
nose  gracefully  outlined,  slightly  pointed  and  turned  upward ; 
eyes — those  of  genius — kindly,  blue-gray,  full-size  and  deeply 
set;  manners  unusually  graceful,  simple,  cordial,  but  reserved 
and  dignified;  conversational  powers  charming;  voice  almost 
femininely  soft,  gentle  and  musical,  used  slowly  and  hesitat- 
ingly but  possessing  in  its  tone  a  cordiality,  earnestness  and 
frankness — a  deep  sympathy  with  humanity,  a  confidence  in 
man  and  a  bright  hopefulness  in  his  destiny — which  irresist- 
ibly won  upon  the  feelings  alike  of  friend  and  foe;  temper 
amiable  and  forgiving — calm,  self-reliant  and  courageous.  He 
never  found  it  necessary  to  engage  in  a  personal  encounter 
nor  to  experience  a  manly  indignity,  while  his  accomplish- 
ments enabled  him  to  shun  all  popular  vices  and  habits  of  the 
prevailing  gentry;  he  never  gambled,  knew  not  one  card  from 
another  and  did  riot  allow  their  playing  in  his  home;  he  dis- 
countenanced strong  drink  and  indulged  in  neither  tobacco 
nor  profanity.  What  an  inspiring  character  for  ambitious 
youths  to  study  and  emulate! 

Mr.  Wertenbaker  thought  that  Mr.  Webster  portrayed  un- 
justly Mr.  Jefferson  shortly  after  visiting  him  in  1824,  and 
likewise  his  grandson,  Thomas  Jefferson  Randolph,  did  not 
agree  with  all  of  that  description,  believing  it  calculated  to 
produce  an  unfavorable  impression— that  of  an  ill-looking 
man — the  opposite  to  what  he  was.  But  as  it  was  the  last  at- 
tempt at  recording  permanently  his  declining  condition,  a  por- 
tion may  be  reproduced :  "  Mr.  Jefferson  is  now  between 
eighty-one  and  eighty-two,  about  six  feet  high,  of  an  ample 
long  frame,  rather  thin  and  spare.  His  head,  which  is  not 
peculiar  in  shape,  is  set  rather  forward  on  his  shoulders,  and, 
his  neck  being  long,  there  is,  when  walking  or  conversing,  a 
habitual  protrusion  of  it.  It  is  still  well-covered  with  hair, 
which,  having  been  once  red  and  now  turning  gray,  is  of  an 
indistinct  sandy  color.  His  eyes  are  small  (as  a  fact  they 
were  normal),  very  light,  and  now  neither  brilliant  nor  strik- 
ing. His  chin  is  rather  long  but  not  pointed ;  his  nose  small, 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  27 

regular  in  outline,  and  the  nostrils  a  little  elevated ;  his  mouth 
is  well  formed,  and  still  filled  with  teeth — it  is  strongly  com- 
pressed, bearing  an  expression  of  contentment  and  benevo- 
lence; his  complexion,  formerly  light  and  freckled,  now  bears 
the  marks  of  age  and  cutaneous  affection.  His  limbs  are  un- 
commonly long;  his  hands  and  feet  very  large,  and  his  wrists 
of  an  extraordinary  size  (one  had  never  recovered  from  dis- 
location). His  walk  is  not  precise  and  military,  but  easy  and 
swinging.  He  stoops  a  little,  not  so  much  from  age  as  from 
natural  formation.  When  sitting  he  appears  short,  partly 
from  a  rather  lounging  habit  of  sitting,  and  partly  from  the 
disproportionate  length  of  his  limbs.  His  dress,  when  in  the 
house,  is  a  gray  surtout,  kerseymere  stuff  waistcoat,  with  an 
under  one  faced  with  some  material  of  a  dingy  red.  His  pan- 
taloons are  very  long  and  loose,  and  of  the  same  color  as  his 
coat.  His  stockings  are  woolen,  either  white  or  gray ;  his  shoes 
of  the  kind  that  bear  his  name.  His  general  appearance  indi- 
cates an  extraordinary  degree  of  health,  vivacity  and  spirit. 
His  sight  is  still  good,  for  he  needs  glasses  only  in  the  even- 
ing. His  hearing  is  generally  good,  but  a  number  of  voices 
in  animated  conversation  confuse  him.  He  rises  as  soon  as 
the  hands  of  the  clock,  just  opposite  the  bed,  can  be  seen, 
and  examines  immediately  his  thermometer,  as  he  keeps  a 
regular  meteorological  diary.  He  employs  himself  chiefly  in 
writing  till  breakfast,  which  is  at  nine,  thence  till  dinner  he 
is  in  his  library,  excepting  in  fair  weather  he  rides  on  horse- 
back from  seven  to  fourteen  miles — this  habit  being  essential 
for  his  health  and  comfort.  His  diet  is  simple,  being  re- 
strained only  by  his  taste;  his  breakfast  is  tea  and  coffee, 
bread  fresh  from  the  oven,  of  which  he  does  not  seem  afraid, 
with  sometimes  a  slight  accompaniment  of  cold  meat ;  his  din- 
ner is  largely  vegetables  with  a  little  meat,  which  he  enjoys. 
He  is  easy  and  natural  in  conversation,  not  ambitious ;  it  is  not 
loud,  as  challenging  general  attention,  but  usually  addressed 
to  the  person  next  him.  Outside  of  topics  to  suit  his  audi- 
tor he  discusses  science  and  letters,  and  especially  the  Uni- 
versity of  Virginia,  which  is  coming  into  existence  almost 
entirely  from  his  exertions,  and  will  rise,  it  is  to  be  hoped,  to 
usefulness  and  credit  under  his  continued  care.  When  we  were 
with  him,  his  favorite  subjects  were  Greek  and  Anglo-Saxon, 


28  UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA 

historical  recollections  of  the  times  and  events  of  the  Revo- 
lution, and  of  his  residence  in  France  from  1783-1789." 

The  ingenuous  grandson,  Thomas  Jefferson  Randolph, 
fondly  called  by  Mr.  Jefferson,  "  the  companion  and  staff  of 
my  old  age,"  has  also  given  with  unqualified  accuracy  some 
characteristics  of  that  wholesome  life — observations  amid  the 
sanctity  of  domestic  relations :  "  I  never  saw  his  countenance 
distorted  by  a  single  bad  passion  or  unworthy  feeling.  I  have 
seen  the  expression  of  suffering,  bodily  and  mental,  of  grief, 
pain,  sadness,  just  indignation,  disappointment,  disagreeable 
surprise  and  displeasure,  but  never  of  anger,  impatience,  peev- 
ishness, discontent,  to  say  nothing  worse  of  more  ignoble 
emotions.  To  the  contrary,  it  was  impossible  to  look  on  his 
face  without  being  struck  with  its  benevolent,  intelligent, 
cheerful  and  placid  expression.  It  was  at  once  intellectual, 
good,  kind  and  pleasant,  whilst  his  tall,  spare  figure  spoke  of 
health,  activity  and  that  helpfulness,  that  power  and  will, 
"  never  to  trouble  another  for  that  he  could  do  himself," 
which  marked  his  character.  His  dress  was  simple  and  adapted 
to  his  ideas  of  neatness  and  comfort.  He  paid  little  attention 
to  fashion,  wearing  whatever  he  liked  best,  and  sometimes 
blending  the  fashions  of  several  different  periods.  He  wore 
long  waistcoats  when  the  mode  was  very  short,  white  cambric 
stocks  fastened  behind  with  a  buckle,  when  cravats  were  uni- 
versal. He  adopted  the  pantaloon  very  late  in  life,  because 
he  found  it  more  comfortable  and  convenient,  and  cut  off  his 
queue  for  the  same  reason.  He  made  no  change  except  from 
motives  of  the  same  kind,  and  did  nothing  to  be  in  conformity 
with  the  fashion  of  the  day.  He  considered  such  independ- 
ence the  privilege  of  his  age." 

Mrs.  Samuel  Harrison  Smith  (nee  Margaret  Bayard),  dur- 
ing a  few  days'  visit  to  Mr.  Jefferson,  at  Monticello,  in  the 
summer  of  1809,  recorded  these  observations  in  her  treasured 
notebook  (August  i.)  :  "Yes,  he  is  truly  a  philosopher,  and 
truly  a  good  man,  and  eminently  a  great  one.  Then  there  is 
a  tranquillity  about  him,  which  an  inward  peace  alone  could 
bestow.  As  a  ship  long-tossed  by  the  storms  of  the  ocean, 
casts  anchor  and  lies  at  rest  in  a  peaceful  harbor,  he  is  retired 
from  an  active  and  restless  scene  to  this  tranquil  spot.  Volun- 
tarily and  gladly  has  he  resigned  honors  which  he  never 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  29 

sought,  and  unwillingly  accepted.  His  actions,  not  his  words, 
preach  the  emptiness  and  dissatisfaction  attendant  on  a  great 
office.  His  tall  and  slender  figure  is  not  impaired  by  age, 
though  bent  by  care  and  labor.  His  white  locks  announce  an 
age  his  activity,  strength,  health,  enthusiasm,  ardor  and 
gayety  contradict.  His  face  owes  all  its  charm  to  its  expres- 
sion and  intelligence;  his  features  are  not  good  and  his  com- 
plexion bad,  but  his  countenance  is  so  full  of  soul  and  beams 
with  much  benignity,  that  when  the  eye  rests  on  the  face,  it 
is  too  busy  in  perusing  its  expression,  to  think  of  its  features 
or  complexion.  His  low  and  mild  voice  harmonizes  with  his 
countenance  rather  than  his  figure.  But  his  manners — how 
gentle,  how  humble,  how  kind.  His  meanest  slave  must  feel 
as  if  it  were  a  father  instead  of  a  master  who  addresses  him, 
when  he  speaks.  To  a  disposition  ardent,  affectionate  and 
communicative,  he  joins  manners  timid,  even  to  bashfulness, 
and  reserved  even  to  coldness.  If  his  life  had  not  proved  to 
the  contrary  I  should  have  pronounced  him  rather  a  man  of 
imagination  and  taste,  than  a  man  of  judgment,  a  literary 
rather  than  a  scientific  man,  and  least  of  all  a  politician,  a  char- 
acter for  which  nature  never  seemed  to  have  intended  him, 
and  for  which  the  natural  turn  of  mind,  and  his  disposition, 
taste  and  feeling  equally  unfit  him.  I  should  have  been  sure 
that  this  was  the  case,  even  had  he  not  told  me  so.  In  an 
interesting  conversation -I  had  one  evening — speaking  of  his 
public  and  present  domestic  life — he  remarked :  '  The  whole 
of  my  life  has  been  a  war  with  my  natural  taste,  feelings  and 
wishes;  domestic  life  and  literary  pursuits  were  my  first  and 
my  latest  inclinations — circumstances  and  not  my  desires  lead 
me  to  the  path  I  have  trod,  and  like  a  bow  though  long  bent, 
which  when  unstrung  flies  back  to  its  natural  state,  I  resume 
with  delight  the  character  and  pursuits  for  which  nature  de- 
signed me.  The  circumstances  of  our  country,  at  my  entrance 
into  life,  were  such  that  every  honest  man  felt  himself 
compelled  to  take  part,  and  to  act  up  to  the  best  of  his 
abilities/  " 

Mr.  Jefferson,  in  reply  to  Dr.  Utley,  who  desired  a  history 
of  his  physical  habits  (March  21,  1819),  wrote:  "I  live  so 
much  like  other  people,  that  I  might  refer  to  ordinary  life  as 
the  habits  of  my  own.  I  have  lived  temperately,  eating  little 


30  UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA 

animal  food,  and  that  not  as  an  aliment  so  much  as  a  condi- 
ment for  the  vegetables,  which  constitute  my  principal  diet. 
The  ardent  wines  I  cannot  drink,  nor  do  I  use  ardent  spirits 
in  any  form.  Malt  liquors  and  cider  are  my  table  drinks,  and 
my  breakfast  is  of  tea  and  coffee.  I  have  been  blest  with 
organs  of  digestion  which  accent  and  concoct,  without  ever 
murmuring,  whatever  the  palate  chooses  to  consign  to  them, 
and  I  have  not  yet  lost  a  tooth  by  age.  I  was  a  hard  student 
until  I  entered  on  the  business  of  life,  the  duties  of  which 
leave  no  idle  time  to  those  disposed  to  fulfil  them,  and  now, 
retired,  and  at  the  age  of  seventy-six,  I  am  again  a  hard  stu- 
dent. Indeed,  my  fondness  for  reading  and  study  revolts  me 
from  the  drudgery  of  letter  writing,  and  a  stiff  wrist,  the  con- 
sequence of  an  early  dislocation,  makes  writing  both  slow  and 
painful.  I  am  not  so  regular  in  my  sleep,  devoting  to  it  from 
five  to  eight  hours,  according  as  my  company  or  the  book  I 
am  reading  interests  me;  and  I  never  go  to  bed  without  an 
hour,  or  half  an  hour's  previous  reading  of  something  moral 
(Bible),  whereon  to  ruminate  in  the  intervals  of  sleep.  But 
whether  I  retire  to  bed  early  or  late,  I  rise  with  the  sun.  I 
use  spectacles  at  night,  but  not  necessarily  in  the  day,  unless  in 
reading  small  print.  My  hearing  is  distinct  in  particular  con- 
versation, but  confused  when  several  voices  cross  each  other, 
which  unfits  me  for  the  society  of  the  table.  So  free  from 
catarrhs  that  I  have  not  had  one  (in  -the  breast  I  mean)  on  an 
average  of  eight  or  ten  years  through  life.  I  ascribe  this  ex- 
emption partly  to  the  habit  of  bathing  my  feet  in  cold  water 
every  morning  for  sixty  years.  A  fever  of  more  than  twenty- 
four  hours  I  have  not  had  above  two  or  three  times  in  my 
life.  A  headache  every  six  or  eight  years  has  left  me,  and 
now  enjoy  good  health;  too  feeble,  indeed  to  walk  much,  but 
riding  without  fatigue  six  or  eight  miles  a  day,  and  some- 
times thirty  or  forty." 

Beyond  my  individual  ignorance  of  Mr.  Jefferson's  physical 
personality — thus  minified  by  Mr.  Wertenbaker's  words  and 
suggestive  literature — his  life  presented  to  our  student-body 
manifestations  of  seeming  strangeness.  That  evoking  most 
general  surprise — which  Mr.  Wertenbaker  also  stood  ever 
ready  to  explain  satisfactorily — being:  How  was  it  possible 
for  such  a  gifted  man,  with  a  large  landed  estate  and  a  long 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  31 

public  career,  an  economist  in  theory  and  practice,  to  be  borne 
down  in  his  latter  years  by  the  wail  of  poverty?  Our  visits 
to  Monticello  were  frequent,  where  we  saw  desertion,  solitude, 
neglect,  decay — that  indicating  destitution,  desecration,  apathy 
— a  condition  of  several  decades.  At  no  turn  around  us  could 
the  slightest  evidence  of  his  personal  wealth  be  encountered. 
His  few  descendants  still  lived  in  the  community,  and  from 
observation,  they,  like  their  neighboring  humanity,  were 
struggling  for  an  honorable  existence.  It  was  well  known 
to  us  that  his  ingenuous  grandson — preferred  beneficiary — 
whom  we  occasionally  saw  in  the  town,  especially  on  Sundays 
at  the  Episcopal  Church,  had  liquidated  a  residuary  indebt- 
edness of  over  forty  thousand  dollars,  in  order  to  spare  his 
grandfather's  honored  name.  His  estate  upon  entering  public 
service  consisted  of  ten  thousand  acres,  a  fine  home  and  one 
hundred  and  fifty  slaves,  which  yielded  two  thousand  dollars 
annually,  while  from  his  law  practice  came  an  additional  reve- 
nue of  three  thousand  dollars  that  after  this  period  necessarily 
ceased.  During  his  vice-presidency  he  saved  a  little,  but  when 
minister  to  France,  Secretary  of  State,  and  President  his  salary 
failed  to  meet  expenses.  In  all  these  positions  his  style  of 
living  was  plain  and  retiring,  restricting  entertainments  to  a 
small  coterie  most  congenial  to  him — travelers,  investigators, 
scientists  and  learned  men  of  all  types.  In  spite  of  this  how- 
ever, he  vacated  the  White  House  twenty  thousand  dollars  in 
debt,  a  sum  easily  released  by  the  sale  of  land  or  slaves,  but 
which,  rather  than  do,  he  preferred  to  carry  indefinitely  with 
its  accumulating  burden.  In  his  long  absence  the  entire  es- 
tate had  depreciated  in  value,  and  although  his  slaves,  through 
normal  fertility,  had  increased  to  nearly  two  hundred,  the 
majority  was  either  too  young  or  old  for  service,  therefore 
an  additional  expense  and  not  a  revenue.  For  several  years 
after  his  retirement  seasons  were  unfavorable  for  good  crops, 
which,  with  low  prices,  tended  to  cheapen  land  and  embarrass 
agriculture,  thereby  making  money  scarce  and  at  high  pre- 
mium. His  home,  Monticello,  was  a  sort  of  "  Liberty  Hall  " 
to  relatives  and  friends,  who  continually  came  and  went  singly 
or  in  families,  remaining  one,  three  or  six  months  as  inclina- 
tion and  convenience  suggested.  Accomplished  young  kins- 
women regularly  spent  months  there  as  though  it  were  a 


32  UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA 

fashionable  resort;  these  married  sons  of  Mr.  Jefferson's 
friends,  and  then  came  with  their  entire  home  circle — first  one 
child,  then  many  with  a  retinue  of  maids  and  servants.  One 
friend  from  abroad  arrived  with  a  family  of  six  and  stayed 
ten  months,  while  a  second  visit  followed  of  six  months.  They 
came  of  all  nations — men,  women  and  children,  and  at  all 
times,  remaining  for  various  periods,  long  or  short.  A  judge 
from  New  England,  bringing  simply  a  letter  of  introduction, 
spent  three  weeks,  and  every  day  for  at  least  eight  months  of 
each  year,  brought  its  contingent  of  guests — those  of  wealth, 
fashion,  officials,  military  and  civil,  professional  men,  lawyers, 
doctors,  clergymen,  priests,  congressmen,  diplomats,  mission- 
aries, tourists,  artists,  strangers  and  friends.  There  came  also 
swarms  of  impertinent  gazers,  who,  without  introduction, 
permission  or  ceremony,  thrust  themselves  into  the  most  pri- 
vate of  Mr.  Jefferson's  out-of-door  resorts,  and  even  into  the 
house,  staring  about  as  at  a  public  show — a  nuisance  that  in- 
creased as  years  advanced.  Many  groups  of  utter  stran- 
gers, of  both  sexes,  would  plant  themselves  in  the  passage 
between  his  study  and  dining-room,  consult  their  watches  and 
wait  his  passing  from  one  to  the  other  for  dinner,  so  that  they 
could  momentarily  catch  a  glimpse  of  him.  One  woman 
punched  through  a  windowpane  with  her  parasol  that  she 
might  have  the  better  view  of  him.  He  was  waylaid  in  his 
rides  and  walks,  and  when  sitting  under  the  porticoes  in  the 
coolness  of  the  evening,  parties  would  approach  within  thirty 
or  forty  feet  and  focus  their  eyes  on  him  as  a  lion  in  a  cage. 
The  several  stables  and  carriage-houses  every  night  through- 
out the  pleasant  season  were  filled  to  overflowing  with  the 
belongings  of  others — the  larger  coaches  having  to  be  shel- 
tered under  the  stately  trees. 

Traveling  in  that  day  and  district  was  by  necessity  on 
horseback,  in  carriage  or  coach,  and  those  journeying  south- 
ward or  northward  seemed  unwilling  to  pass  Monticello  with- 
out paying  a  courteous  respect  to  its  illustrious  host — that 
which  frequently  was  used  to  give  themselves  and  equipage  a 
rest  of  over  night.  It  truly  took  all  hands  to  take  care  of  the 
visitors,  and  the  whole  farm,  nay  more,  to  feed  them.  Mrs. 
Randolph  affirmed  that  in  her  day  there  always  was  present 
one  or  more  visitors;  some  nights  four,  six  or  ten,  while  as 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  33 

many  as  fifty  guests  had  unexpectedly  been  provided  beds  for 
over  night. 

Although  Mr.  Jefferson  started  out  to  live  plainly,  like  a 
country  gentleman,  his  fashionable  and  distinguished  visitors 
expected  much  beyond  that.  New  England  judges  remaining 
three  weeks  would  soon  tire  on  ham  and  turkev;  claret  and 
cider  might  suit  Mr.  Jefferson,  but  not  his  guests.  He  vir- 
tually was  hunted  down  by  his  reputation,  and  literally  eaten 
up  by  his  countrymen — that  which  he  predicted  years  before 
when  he  remarked  to  his  grandson :  "  If  I  live  long  enough 
I  will  beggar  my  family,  the  number  of  persons  I  entertain 
will  devour,  my  estate."  Thus  without  prodigality,  idleness, 
improvidence  or  speculation  he  was  reduced  to  poverty.  But 
through  self-denial,  retrenchment  and  wisest  economy  this 
would  have  been  averted  had  not  his  endorsement  miscarried 
for  his  dearest  friend,  Governor  Wilson  C.  Nicholas,  to  whom 
was  reserved  the  giving  of  "  that  coup  de  grace  which  shrouded 
Monticello  in  gloom,  consigned  it  to  stranger  hands  and  early 
decay,  exposed  its  aged  and  tottering  owner  to  the  jeers  of 
brutal  partisans,  and  broke  the  noble  heart  that  dealt  the  un- 
willing blow." 

Indeed  Mr.  Jefferson's  contributions  to  religious,  educa- 
tional and  charitable  objects  through  life  would  have  made 
him  rich  in  old  age,  but  above  all  the  memory  of  those  gen- 
erous acts  gave  him  an  "  unfaltering  trust  "  when  the  storm  of 
need  came,  so  that  their  possession  would  have  brought  even 
then  more  pain  than  pleasure.  Poverty,  as  it  had  overtaken 
him,  "  was  no  disgrace,  for  there  was  not  a  single  circumstance 
connected  with  its  causes,  progress  or  sequel  over  which  man- 
hood could  blush,  or  friendship  desire  to  draw  a  veil."  All  of 
his  debts  were  paid  willingly  by  loving  hands,  leaving  no  one 
to  present  a  farthing's  claim. 

It  was  very  difficult  for  us  students  to  understand,  why  his 
dear  Virginia  heeded  not  that  final  pathetic  appeal  for  just 
and  honorable  relief,  or  why  the  Government — still  partly 
democratic  and  fully  acquainted  with  all  extenuating  condi- 
tions— did  not  volunteer  proudly  and  unasked  that  help  he  so 
worthily  deserved.  We  observed  in  our  day  the  President's 
salary  easily  doubled;  the  Senators  and  Congressmen  receiv- 
ing thousands  in  back  pay;  the  Government  liberal  to  a  fault 


34  UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA 

towards  men  and  objects  of  questionable  merit;  the  public 
eager  to  erect  costly  monuments  and  to  pay  homage  to  those 
whose  labors  had  been  far  less  to  their  country's  good.  And 
yet  we  realized  sadly  that  fifty  years  before  the  true  nation- 
builder,  the  great  apostle  of  democracy,  of  civic  liberty  and 
personal  freedom — the  expounder  and  defender  of  most  en- 
nobling principles — had  been  allowed  to  pass  away  amid  finan- 
cial misfortunes,  incident  to  serving  his  country  during  a  long 
life  the  best  he  knew;  that  his  beautiful  and  cherished  home 
had  been  permitted  to  fall  into  the  hands  of  strangers,  and 
that  its  lovely  mistress  of  the  later  years,  his  dear  and  beloved 
daughter,  Martha,  whose  tender  and  ever-sustaining  hands 
ministered  for  many  years  to  his  every  want,  had  been 
suffered  to  go  forth  from  its  threshold  into  the  cold  world 
penniless,  with  its  doors  closed  forever  upon  her.  But  "  as 
every  cloud  turns  forth  her  silver  lining/'  all  humanity  did 
not  remain  callous,  nay  heartless,  in  the  hour  of  greatest  dis- 
tress— for  the  Legislatures  of  South  Carolina  and  Louisiana, 
with  a  generosity  beyond  reason  to  expect,  learning  her  true 
embarrassment  took  immediate  steps  for  relief  by  handsome 
monetary  appropriations. 

Mr.  Jefferson's  life,  however,  as  it  stood,  possessed  a  value 
and  inspiration  to  many  of  us  students,  for  while  we  recog- 
nized that  the  world  accepted  it  as  something  beyond  the  at- 
tainment of  those  living,  it  was  before  us  a  veritable  guide, 
commanding  our  respect  and  challenging  an  ambition  for  at 
least  modest  emulation. 

We  marveled  at  the  trusted  positions  thrust  upon  him  dur- 
ing forty  years,  from  early  manhood  to  old  age:  member  of 
the  House  of  Burgesses,  Continental  Congress,  Governor  of 
Virginia,  Minister  to  France,  Secretary  of  State,  Vice-Presi- 
dent,  and  President — and  even  then  besought  not  to  desert 
the  "  Ship  of  State."  We  wondered  at  what  he  accomplished, 
the  many  deeds  performed  and  advocated  beyond  the  three  he 
considered  greatest  and  alone  worthy  to  be  engraved  upon 
his  tomb;  the  common  school  system;  the  abolishment  of 
slavery  and  the  prohibition  of  its  importation  into  Virginia — 
with  failure;  the  revision  of  the  laws  of  Virginia  in  con- 
formity with  his  ideas  of  liberty ;  the  establishment  of  our  dol- 
lar with  its  various  subdivisons;  the  selection  of  location  for 


Thomas  Jeiferson  Randolph 

1792-1875 
The  companion  and  staff  of  my  old  age  " 

See  page  308 


Monticello  Graveyard 
(Mr.  Jefferson's  original  monument) 


See  page  218 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  35 

the  capital  at  Washington;  the  personal  magnetism  exercised 
towards  ratifying  the  Treaty  of  Peace  with  Great  Britain — 
settling  the  war  his  Declaration  of  Independence  helped  to 
bring  about ;  the  presentation  to  Congress  of  the  Virginia  deed 
ceding  her  lands,  northwest  of  the  Ohio  River,  to  the  Govern- 
ment for  public  domain;  the  devised  plan  for  the  temporary 
government  of  the  Northwestern  Territory,  with  the  clause 
prohibiting  slavery  therein;  the  improvement  of  navigation  of 
the  Rivanna  River;  the  removal  of  Virginia's  capital  from 
Williamsburg  to  Richmond;  the  enactment  abolishing  entails, 
and  that  establishing  the  natural  right  of  man  to  expatriate 
himself  at  will;  the  laws  changing  the  course  of  descents — 
giving  the  inheritance  to  all  children  alike — and  that  appor- 
tioning crimes  and  punishments;  the  introduction  of  the 
olive  plant  into  South  Carolina  from  France  (1789-90);  the 
bringing  of  upland  rice  into  South  Carolina  from  Africa 
(1790);  the  purchasing  of  the  Louisiana  territory  from 
France  (1803)  ;  the  sending  of  Lewis,  Clark  and  Pike  to  ex- 
plore the  far  west;  the  endeavor  to  enforce  national  rights  by 
"embargo"  instead  of  by  war;  the  reduction  of  the  public 
debt;  the  aiding  of  trade  and  commerce  with  the  world;  the 
advocacy  for  a  navy,  and  the  provision  of  a  system  of  sea 
coast  and  tide  water  defences.  And  yet  after  having  gloriously 
been  the  causa  sine  qua  non  of  all  these  benefits  to  his  country 
and  countrymen,  he  thus  modestly  wrote :  "  I  have  sometimes 
asked  myself  whether  my  country  is  the  better  for  my  having 
lived  at  all.  I  do  not  know  that  it  is.  I  have  been  the  instru- 
ment of  doing  these  things ;  but  they  could  have  been  done  by 
others,  some  of  them,  perhaps,  a  little  better." 

To  us  students  it  seemed  almost  incredible  that  he  could 
have  evolved  that  profound  document — Declaration  of  Inde- 
pendence— when  only  thirty-three  years  of  age,  which,  save 
the  Lord's  Prayer  and  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount,  including 
the  Commandments,  continues  to-day  the  most  read  and  quoted 
composition  of  our  Country.  It  was  equally  surprising  to 
us  that  through  his  efforts  denominational  hatred  and  bigotry 
were  suppressed,  so  that  the  Catholic,  Dissenter,  Hebrew, 
Quaker,  Unitarian,  Orthodox  and  Unorthodox  could  live  at 
peace  with  one  another  in  his  State  and  finally  in  the  land. 
And  last — it  was  a  greater  mystery,  a  profound  joy:  how  one 


36  UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA 

of  his  ripened  years  could  champion  successfully  the  cause  of 
general  education  and  inaugurate  a  complete  system  having 
as  a  capstone  our  favorite  institution — the  University. 

Many  of  us  in  those  days  studied  and  pondered  over  his 
principles — those  that  gave  him  individuality  and  immortality, 
not  a  few  amazing  us  by  their  comprehensiveness  and  truth, 
and  will  continue  to  impress  strongly  till  the  end  of  time  un- 
born generations: 

1.  All  men  are  created  equal  and  with  certain  inalienable  rights,  and 
among  these  are  life,  liberty,  and  the  pursuit  of  happiness— this  is  the 
bedrock  of  our  Republic,  and  the  basic  proposition  of  my  political  creed. 

2.  The  rights  of  man  are  inviolable — the  weaker  must  be  protected 
from  the  stronger ;  laws  are  to  be  made  without  coercion,  undue  influence, 
purchase  of  legislators  or  law-making  bodies. 

3.  Taxes  are  to  be  evenly  laid  and  collected;  there  must  be  a  free 
press,  and  no  great  standing  army. 

4.  Public  matters  are  to  be  discussed  by  the  people  at  public  meet- 
ings, wherever  and  whenever  desired ;  lands  should  be  held  by  our  citizens, 
and  agriculture  fostered  as  the  basis  of  wealth,  comfort  and  happiness. 

5.  No  king,  potentate,  or  ruler  other  than  the  people;  no  classes  or 
orders  of  men ;  and  arrogance,  assumption  and  pretension  of  the  vulgar 
of  whatever  station  must  be  checked. 

6.  Make  the  people  homogeneous  by  promoting  the  general  welfare; 
educate  them  to  govern  themselves  and  regulate  their  rulers. 

7.  Education  should  be  fostered  and  aided  by  all  means  possible,  and 
the  government  must  keep  abreast  of  the  developments  of  science  and  the 
growth  of  the  arts. 

8.  Economy  must  prevail  in  national  expenditures,  with  the  largest 
possible  proper  private  outgo  consistent  with  means. 

9.  The  Republic  should  be  partisan,  with  frequent  changes  in  offi- 
cials, because  long  continuance  in  power  by  one  set  of  men  or  party  is, 
in  effect,  monarchy;  as  few  officials  as  possible,  and  merit — not  competi- 
tion— to  be  the  test  of  capacity — the  man  as  much  if  not  more  than  his 
acquirements. 

10.  Rights  of  private  judgment  in  matters  of  faith  must  be  respected 
in  all  men,  and  rights  of  property,  like  the  rights  of  man,  must  be  pre- 
served. 

n.  Principle — that  ascertained  best  for  the  people — must  be  pushed 
with  vigor  for  the  common  good;  the  nation's  word  once  given,  to  be 
sacredly  preserved,  and  faith  always  kept. 

12.  Eternal  and  constant  vigilance  in  maintaining  liberty — that  which, 
although  costly,  will  require  frequent  elections ;  free  opportunity  for  brains, 
energy  and  manhood,  and  one  man  as  good  as  another. 

13.  First,    last,    and   all   the   time,   public   opinion — the    will    of   the 
people — to  be  supreme;  always  law  and  never  license,  but  protest  to  be 
needed. 

Somehow  or  another  in  my  student  period  we  accepted  and 
believed  Mr.  Jefferson  the  greatest  of  our  Nation's  founders, 
unquestionably  the  most  profound  scholar  and  thinker  of  his 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  37 

age — possessing  a  versatility  of  knowledge  so  essential  then 
for  his  Country's  immediate  needs,  which  he  dealt  out  regard- 
less of  stint  or  favor,  having  but  one  hope  and  ambition — 
to  improve  the  condition  and  liberty  of  his  countrymen.  This 
he  felt  reasonably  assured  must  follow  if  the  cardinal  prin- 
ciples advocated  and  inaugurated  be  held  inviolate,  and  did 
not  hesitate  to  express  himself  thus :  "  With  all  the  defects  of 
our  Constitution,  the  comparison  of  our  Government  with 
those  of  Europe  is  like  the  comparison  of  heaven  and  hell. 
England,  like  the  earth,  may  be  allowed  to  take  the  intermedi- 
ate station."  We  lived  under  the  impression  that  his  hands, 
head  and  pen  were  at  work  constantly  in  the  service  of  man- 
kind and  the  exercise  of  larger  humanities  throughout  the 
world,  and  towards  that  end  he  knew  nothing  of  apathy,  in- 
difference rest,  or  repose;  that  while  Washington,  Green, 
Franklin,  Hamilton,  Adams  and  Madison  were  indispensable 
luminaries  in  the  formation  and  creation  of  our  organic  gov- 
ernment, yet  upon  Mr.  Jefferson,  more  than  any  other,  rested 
the  evolution  of  her  best  underlying  principles — those  that 
will  tide  over  impending  emergencies  until  the  end  of  time; 
that  it  was  through  no  fortuitous,  but  rather  a  prophetic  real- 
ization of  this  truth  our  Constitution  possesses  an  elasticity, 
although  constructed  for  only  three  millions,  standing  to-day 
the  equally  acceptable  code  for  thirty. times  that  number — it 
is  true  having  received  an  occasional  amendment,  but  recog- 
nized just  as  essential,  if  at  all,  then  as  now — and  will  remain 
free  from  the  need  of  change  so  long  as  we  continue  to  grow 
and  expand. 

Some  of  Mr.  Jefferson's  epigrammatic  words  of  wisdom 
were  familiar  to  many  of  us  students,  and  had  useful  applica- 
tion in  our  daily  intercourse,  being  quoted  always  with  a 
suppressed  smile  that  carried  approval : 

1.  Never  trouble  another  for  what  you  can  do  yourself. 

2.  Never  put  off  till  to-morrow  what  you  can  do  to-day. 

3.  Never  fear  the  want  of  business;  he  who  qualifies  himself  well 
for  his  calling  never  fails  of  employment  in  it. 

4.  Never  spend  your  money  before  you  have  it. 

5.  Never  buy  what  you  do  not  need  because  it  is  cheap;  it  will  be 
dear  to  you. 

6.  The  object  of  all  learning  is  the  freedom  and  happiness  of  man. 

7.  Honesty  is  the  first  chapter  of  the  book  of  wisdom. 

8.  Always  do  what  is  right. 


38  UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA 

9.  Take  things  always  by  their  smooth  handle. 

10.  When  angry,  count  ten  before  you  speak;  if  very  angry,  an  hun- 
dred. 

11.  Nothing  is  troublesome  that  we  do  willingly. 

12.  Conscience  is  our  only  guide  from  doubts  and  inconsistencies. 

13.  Differences  of  opinion  in  politics,  religion,  or  philosophy  should 
not  break  friends. 

14.  The  happiest  man  is  he  of  whom  the  world  says  least. 

15.  Pride  costs  us  more  than  hunger,  thirst,  and  cold. 

16.  We  never  repent  of  having  eaten  too  little. 

17.  How  much  pain  have  cost  us  the  evils  which  have  never  hap- 
pened. 

18.  Adore  God;  reverence  and  cherish  your  parents. 

19.  Love  your  neighbor  as  yourself,  and  your  country  more  than 
yourself. 

20.  Be  just;  be  true;  murmur  not  at  the  ways  of  Providence. 


CHAPTER  II 

THOMAS  JEFFERSON — AMBITIOUS  YOUNG  MAN  AND 
STATESMAN 

Father's  characteristics  and  prominence;  his  own  early  life,  education,  ex- 
perience at  William  and  Mary  College;  personal  sorrows;  lawyer, 
member  of  the  House  of  Burgesses,  Continental  Congress,  and  Con- 
gress; Shadwell  destroyed;  marriage;  death  of  Dabney  Carr  and  its 
episode;  Patrick  Henry's  great  speech;  John  Adams'  eulogy;  Declara- 
tion of  Independence — when,  where,  and  how  composed;  religious 
liberty,  public  reforms;  diffusion  of  knowledge;  Governor,  North- 
western Territory;  Minister  to  France,  Secretary  of  State,  etc. 

THOMAS  JEFFERSON  was  born  April  13,  1743,  on  the  family 
estate,  Shadwell,  Albemarle  County,  Virginia,  four  miles 
east  of  Charlottesville.  To-day  an  unpretentious  station  of 
that  name,  on  the  Chesapeake  and  Ohio  Railroad,  marks  the 
plantation's  original  southern  boundary,  while  on  the  near-by 
rising  hill  northward  a  few  straggling  locust  and  sycamore 
trees,  planted  by  him  on  his  twenty-first  birthday,  remain  as 
the  only  visible  reminder  of  the  historic  frame  mansion  de- 
stroyed by  fire  in  1770.  His  father,  Peter  Jefferson,  who 
owned  and  resided  here  from  early  manhood  until  death 
(1757),  cultivating  so  much  of  his -nineteen  hundred  acres  as 
practical  with  thirty  slaves,  was  possibly  the  most  prominent 
man  of  Albemarle  in  that  day — standing  high  with  his  gov- 
ernment, his  people,  and  the  surrounding  Indians.  He  was 
large  in  body  and  strong  in  mind,  possessing  sound  judgment, 
a  substantial  and  inspiring  personality,  and  an  education  ac- 
quired by  self-effort  through  extensive  reading  and  an  eager- 
ness for  general  knowledge — a  fine  mathematician,  a  skilled 
surveyor,  following  it,  as  did  Washington,  with  remarkable 
credit  and  success.  He  occupied  a  number  of  honorable  and 
important  positions— Justice  of  the  Peace,  State  and  County 
Surveyor,  Colonel  of  the  County,  executor  of  large  estates, 
Church  vestryman,  member  of  the  House  of  Burgesses,  etc. — 
while  an  early  death  deprived  him  of  much  assured  distinction. 
His  estate  joined  another  of  local  interest,  Edgehill,  owned  and 

39 


40  UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA 

occupied  by  William  Randolph,  with  whom  for  years  he  en- 
joyed the  closest  friendship,  and  finally  a  relationship  by 
marrying  a  brother's  daughter,  Jane  Randolph.  The  fruition 
of  this  union  was  ten  children — six  girls  and  four  boys;  of 
the  latter,  three  died  quite  young,  while  the  eldest,  Thomas, 
alone  survived  to  bring  fame  to  the  name.  The  father  sympa- 
thized with  struggling  humanity,  espoused  the  popular  side, 
took  pride  in  plain  dress  and  appearance,  and  was  solicitous 
about  his  characteristics  and  theories  being  impressed  upon 
his  son,  whom  he  also  had  taught  the  darings  of  sport — to 
ride  a  fleet  horse,  fire  a  gun,  and  brave  a  swollen  stream  in 
pursuit  of  deer  or  turkey.  He  was  a  firm  believer  in  educa- 
tion, considering  it  a  far  better  legacy  than  monetary  inherit- 
ance, desired  his  son,  Thomas,  to  have  the  best,  and  previous 
to  death  had  begun  to  shape  that  by  placing  him  when  five 
years  old  at  an  English  school  in  Tuckahoe,  and  when  nine 
at  the  Latin  school  of  Mr.  Douglas,  a  Scottish  clergyman, 
where  he  studied  Latin,  Greek,  French  and  mathematics,  and 
remained  until  fourteen,  at  the  death  of  his  father.  The  next 
two  years  he  spent  only  fourteen  miles  from  Shad  well,,  at  the 
school  of  Rev.  James  Maury,  a  Huguenot,  a  broad-minded  man 
and  a  correct  classical  scholar,  from  where  he  entered  (1760) 
William  and  Mary  College,  Williamsburg — the  then  capital  of 
Virginia,  an  unpaved  village  of  a  thousand  inhabitants,  but 
the  center  of  much  social,  political  and  educational  activity, 
especially  during  winters  when  the  Legislature  and  Great  Court 
were  in  session,  as  then  many  distinguished  families  took  up 
there  a  temporary  residence.  To  all  such  Mr.  Jefferson  had 
entree,  but  was  careful  not  to  abuse  the  social  side,  as  he  held 
ever  foremost  the  object  of  his  sojourn — an  education. 

Of  the  various  college  instructors  there  was  one  with  whom 
he  formed  the  closest  intimacy,  speaking  of  him  afterwards 
in  grateful  terms :  "  It  was  my  good  fortune,  and  what  prob- 
ably fixed  the  destinies  of  my  life,  that  Dr.  William  Small  of 
Scotland  was  then  professor  of  mathematics,  a  man  profound 
in  most  of  the  useful  branches  of  science,  with  a  happy  talent 
of  communication,  correct  and  gentlemanly  manners,  and  an 
enlarged  and  liberal  mind.  He  most  happily  for  me,  became 
soon  attached  to  me  and  made  me  his  daily  companion,  when 
not  engaged  in  school;  and  from  his  conversation  I  got  my 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  41 

first  views  of  the  expansion  of  science  and  the  system  of 
things  in  which  we  are  placed."  He  was  also  a  religious 
skeptic  and  no  doubt  gave  vent  frequently,  in  the  presence  of 
his  youthful  associate,  to  his  agnostic  doctrines  with  more  or 
less  effect.  Mr.  Jefferson  also  while  there  became  very  friendly 
with  two  other  distinguished  and  highly  educated  men — 
Governor  Francis  Fauquier,  a  thoroughly  cultured,  able  and 
aggressive  gentleman,  imparting  much  that  should  be  imi- 
tated as  well  as  'avoided,  and  George  Wythe,  a  scholarly 
lawyer,  who  became  his  law  preceptor,  and  in  due  time  the 
same  to  Chief  Justice  Marshall  and  Henry  Clay.  The  attain- 
ments of  these  companions  stimulated  in  Mr.  Jefferson  an 
ambition  and  industry  scarcely  conceivable,  so  that  in  spite  of 
beginning  college  life  with  the  enjoyment  of  various  diver- 
sions— social  entertainments,  healthful  exercises,  horseback 
riding  (for  he  had  his  own  stable),  playing  the  violin,  etc. — 
these  by  degrees  were  discarded,  with  the  exception  of  a  mile 
run  at  twilight,  in  order  that  he  might  devote  at  least  fifteen 
hours  to  solid  study,  an  application  which  only  a  strong,  vigor* 
ous  and  robust  constitution,  like  his,  could  have  safely  en- 
dured. Although  adhering  to  such  a  studious  regime  and 
braving  successfully  the  many  besetting  temptations — cards, 
wine  and  tobacco — so  as  to  leave  college  morally  sound  when 
not  yet  twenty  (1762),  he  had  gone  so  far  as  to  become 
strongly  interested  in  Miss  Rebecca  Burwell,  an  heiress  of 
much  beauty  in  manner  and  person,  who,  pretending  a  recipro- 
cal sentiment,  clandestinely  married  another — Jacquelin 
Ambler.  To  cover  disappointment  this  unexpected  conclusion 
of  a  romance  made  Mr.  Jefferson  all  the  closer  reader  and 
student  of  law — that  upon  which  he  had  now  entered  with 
strong  determination  and  bright  hopes  under  the  mentorship 
of  his  staunch  friend,  George  Wythe.  To  the  study  of  this 
profession  he  devoted  five  entire  years,  passing  the  winters 
in  Williamsburg  and  the  summers  at  Shadwell,  being  admitted 
to  the  bar  (1767)  when  twenty- four  years  of  age.  While 
these  five  years  had  been  spent  profitably  and  satisfactorily, 
yet  apart  from  their  pleasant  memories  others  had  entered 
more  or  less  depressing.  Thus  at  the  very  beginning  he  en- 
countered love's  delusion,  and  two  years  later  the  death  of  his 
favorite  sister,  Jane,  which  inflicted  a  much  more  serious  blow, 


42  UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA 

as  she  was  the  pride  and  ornament  of  the  home,  a  beautiful 
singer,  his  literary  and  musical  companion — a  grief  from 
which  he  never  completely  recovered,  cherishing  her  memory 
to  the  last  in  the  expression :  "  Often  in  church  some  sacred 
air  which  her  sweet  voice  had  made  familiar  to  me  in  youth 
recalls  to  me  sweet  visions  of  her  whom  I  loved  so  well  and 
buried  so  young." 

Mr.  Jefferson,  with  his  training,  might  truthfully  have  been 
considered  the  finest  educated  man  of  his  country  at  that  day, 
as  he  possessed  a  masterly  knowledge  of  Latin,  Greek,  French, 
and  mathematics;  knew  considerable  of  the  Indian  dialects, 
Anglo-Saxon,  Spanish,  Italian,  science,  agriculture,  and  archi- 
tecture; had  been  a  close  student  of  literature,  history,  biog- 
raphy, philosophy,  and  was  well-grounded  in  the  various  phases 
of  law.  He  once  remarked  to  his  grandson :  "  I  have  never 
sat  down  in  idleness,  since  when  a  boy,  I  first  found  pleasure 
in  books,"  and  his  thirst  for  information  was  insatiable,  as  he 
eagerly  seized  every  possible  means  of  obtaining  it.  In  later 
life  he  was  recognized  as  a  veritable  "  walking  encyclopaedia," 
but  the  stranger — farmer,  mechanic,  scientist,  lawyer,  physi- 
cian, theologian — by  personal  contact  thought  him  in  turn 
simply  one  of  his  own  craft,  as  he  invariably  adapted  his  con- 
versation to  suit  each  individual.  He  regarded  farming  the 
most  moral  and  ennobling  vocation,  and  farmers  as  God's 
chosen  people,  consequently,  as  might  have  been  expected,  he 
now  assumed  control  of  his  landed  estate,  Shadwell,  and  in 
addition  began  the  practice  of  law  in  Albemarle  and  adjoin- 
ing counties,  having  his  office  in  Charlottesville.  He  was  the 
staff  of  the  home,  consisting  of  his  mother,  brother,  and  three 
younger  sisters — the  three  older  being  absent,  Jane  by  death, 
Mary  by  marriage  to  Thomas  Boiling,  and  Martha  by  mar- 
riage to  Dabney  Carr — and  fully  appreciated  the  responsibility 
assumed,  but  in  the  spirit  of  confidence  and  happiness. 

From  the  beginning  both  chosen  interests  were  highly  suc- 
cessful, for  he  increased  his  lands  in  value  and  acreage,  and 
gained  daily  professional  business  and  renown.  As  a  lawyer 
he  was  patient,  accurate  and  fearless,  but  nothing  of  an  orator 
— not  even  a  pleasant  public  speaker,  his  voice  when  elevated 
becoming  husky  and  indistinct.  His  talent  for  investigation 
and  summarizing  caused  all  of  his  cases  to  be  well-prepared, 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  43 

but  in  a  few  pithy,  characteristic  sentences,  thereby  avoiding 
the  tricks  of  the  fluent  speaker.  His  nephew  once  asked  an 
old  man,  who  in  youth  had  heard  Mr.  Jefferson  often  plead  at 
court,  how  his  grandfather  ranked  as  a  speaker,  and  received 
this  reply :  "  Well,  it  is  hard  to  tell,  because  he  always  took 
the  right  side."  In  the  first  year  he  had  before  the  General 
Court  of  Virginia  alone  sixty-eight  cases;  in  the  second  year 
one  hundred  and  fifteen;  in  the  third  one  hundred  and  ninety- 
eight,  and  so  it  continued  throughout  the  eight  years  he  prac- 
ticed, until  August  n,  1773,  when  he  passed  over  his  legal 
business  to  Edmund  Randolph.  In  addition  to  the  higher 
court  practice,  each  year  he  was  retained  as  attorney  or  coun- 
sel for  three  to  five  hundred  cases — his  clients  coming  from  the 
most  reputable  and  aristocratic  of  his  own  and  mother  coun- 
try, including  the  Elands,  Burwells,  Carters,  Harrisons, 
Careys,  Lees,  Nelsons,  Pages,  Randolphs,  etc.  Mr.  Jefferson, 
soon  after  reaching  majority,  became  vestryman  of  his  parish 
church,  and  justice  of  the  county  court,  as  had  his  father  be- 
fore him.  In  1769  he  was  elected  to  the  House  of  Burgesses, 
which  he  entered  amidst  foreboding  clouds,  as  public  senti- 
ment throughout  the  colonies  was  drifting  from  the  mother 
country,  owing  to  increased  distrust  in  George  III  and  Parlia- 
ment. Virginia  had  already  caught  the  contagion,  so  that 
her  legislative  body  echoed  loud  the  spirit  of  revolution,  con- 
taining as  it  did  so  many  formidable  advocates — especially 
three  of  towering  strength:  Washington,  its  sword;  Henry, 
its  tongue;  Jefferson,  its  pen. 

Early  in  the  session  Mr.  Jefferson  prepared  resolutions  and 
an  address  in  reply  to  Governor  Botetourt's  inaugural  mes- 
sage, but  only  the  former  were  accepted.  Shortly  thereafter 
he  introduced  a  bill  making  the  emancipation  of  slaves  lawful, 
which  was  rejected  promptly  and  emphatically,  but  adopted 
twelve  years  later  (1782).  It  was  during  this  absence  from 
home  that  the  family  mansion  at  Shadwell  was  destroyed  by 
fire  (February  i,  1770),  with  all  of  its  valuable  historic  con- 
tents of  furniture,  books,  legal  papers,  etc. — his  "  fiddle  "  be- 
ing saved  by  the  servants  as  the  only  thing  they  considered  of 
special  value.  Fortunately  Monticello  had  been  begun  the 
year  before  and  was  advanced  sufficiently  to  shelter  the  family 
by  enduring  numerous  inconveniences.  Two  years  later,  Jan- 


44  '  UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA 

uary  i,  1772,  Mr.  Jefferson  married  and  brought  to  his  new 
home  Mrs.  Martha  Skelton,  the  childless  widow  of  Bathurst 
Skelton  (their  only  child  having  died  in  infancy),  then  twenty- 
three  years  of  age,  and  the  daughter  of  John  Wayles,  a 
wealthy  lawyer  of  Williamsburg. 

On  May  16,  1773,  his  gifted  and  beloved  brother-in-law, 
Dabney  Carr,  died  at  the  age  of  thirty,  leaving  his  young 
wife  (nee  Martha  Jefferson),  and  six  small  children  to  the 
tender  mercy  of  Mr.  Jefferson,  by  whom  they  were  adopted 
and  supported.  All  of  us  University  students  were  well- 
acquainted  with  the  mutual  fondness  of  these  two  gentlemen, 
and  in  our  visits  to  the  Monticello  graveyard  almost  the  first 
object  instinctively  sought  was  the  oak  tree  and  tomb  there- 
under of  this  dearest  youthful  companion  of  Mr.  Jefferson, 
not  two  yards  from  his  own  grave.  We  knew  of  their  recipro- 
cal promise — that  the  survivor  should  see  the  other  buried 
under  its  broad  foliage,  where  in  boyhood  they  had  spent  to- 
gether so  many  hours  in  profitable  study  and  pleasurable  dis- 
cussion. The  writer  listened  more  than  once  to  Mr.  Werten- 
baker  recite  the  episode  with  ever-increasing  fervor  and  de- 
light as  he  emphasized  Mr.  Carr's  death  and  burial  to  have 
occurred  during  Mr.  Jefferson's  absence  from  home,  and  upon 
his  return,  making  known  their  boyish  promise,  proceeded  to 
fulfil  the  obligation  by  removing  the  body  to  its  present  rest- 
ing place. 

Mr.  Jefferson,  July,  1774,  enjoyed  a  double  election — to  the 
Convention  and  to  the  House  of  Burgesses — but  owing  to  in- 
disposition the  following  month  was  unable  to  attend  the 
former  which  convened  at  the  Raleigh  Tavern,  Williamsburg. 
He,  however,  prepared  and  sent  a  document,  "  Summary  View 
of  the  Rights  of  British  America,"  to  Peyton  Randolph  and 
Patrick  Henry,  which  proposed  the  instruction  to  the  Vir- 
ginia delegates  in  the-  Continental  Congress.  This  proved 
possibly  the  most  important  political  pamphlet  of  the  South  in 
the  earlier  days  of  the  Revolution,  being  not  only  printed 
anonymously  at  Williamsburg,  but  also  in  Philadelphia  and 
London.  It  breathed  the  spirit  of  independence  so  strongly, 
that,  amusingly  to  the  knowing,  Mr.  Jefferson  was  accused  by 
some  ^of  pilfering  from  it  in  the  "  Declaration  of  Independ"- 
ence."  He  attended  the  Convention,  March  1775,  at  St. 


>  s 
a  ° 
I  I 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  45 

John's  church,  Richmond,  during  which  Patrick  Henry  made 
his  second  world  renown  speech,  "  Give  Me  Liberty,  or  Give 
Me  Death,"  resulting  in  the  appointment  of  a  committee,  of 
which  he  was  a  member,  "  to  devise  plans  for  putting  the  col- 
ony upon  a  military  basis."  That  body  also  previous  to  adjourn- 
ment selected  him  its  representative  in  the  Continental  Con- 
gress, as  the  successor  to  Peyton  Randolph,  who  was  to  be 
recalled  to  preside  over  the  House  of  Burgesses.  Before 
leaving  for  his  new  position  Mr.  Jefferson  enthusiastically 
prepared  a  firm,  courageous  and  rebellious  reply  to  Lord 
North's  "  Conciliatory  Proposition,"  which  had  been  referred 
to  the  Burgesses  by  the  Governor  for  their  consideration.  It 
was  in  this  belligerent  frame  of  mind,  at  the  age  of  thirty-two, 
that  he  went  to  Philadelphia  and  took  his  seat  in  Congress, 
June  1775.  He  could  calculate  an  eclipse,  survey  an  estate, 
read  many  languages,  tie  an  artery,  plan  an  edifice,  plead  a 
case,  break  a  horse,  dance  a  minuet  and  play  the  violin — a  re- 
putation that  had  preceded  him  and  of  which  John  Adams, 
then  also  a  member  of  that  body,  wrote  in  1822:  "  Mr.  Jef- 
ferson came  to  Congress  bringing  with  him  a  reputation  for 
literature,  science,  and  a  happy  talent  for  -composition.  Writ- 
ings of  his  were  handed  about,  remarkable  for  the  peculiar 
felicity  of  expression."  Shortly  after  entering  upon  duties, 
Congress,  feeling  an  explanation  to  the  world  necessary  of  the 
battles  of  Lexington,  Concord,  and  Bunker  Hill,  appointed 
a  committee  for  drafting  suitable  declarations,  which,  when 
finished,  proved  unsatisfactory.  Immediately  Mr.  Jefferson 
and  John  Dickinson  were  added  to  the  committee,  and  their 
personal  efforts  soon  produced  something  thoroughly  accept- 
able. 

Congress  appointed,  July  1775,  Franklin,  Jefferson,  Adams 
and  Lee  a  committee  to  report  on  Lord  North's  "  Conciliatory 
Proposition,"  but  Mr.  Jefferson's  colleagues  at  once  requested 
him  to  draft  the  reply,  which  he  did  with  signal  satisfaction. 
Thus  in  a  few  weeks  his  aggressive  and  fearless  nature  brought 
him  to  the  front  of  that  honorable  body,  eliciting  kindly  ex- 
pressions from  every  turn — that  of  the  great  Adams  being  a 
striking  compliment :  "  He  was  so  prompt,  frank,  explicit  and 
decisive  upon  committees  and  in  convention  that  he  soon  seized 
upon  my  heart."  Congress  adjourned  Augrust  1775,  wnen 


46  UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA 

Mr.  Jefferson  returned  to  Richmond  and  took  his  seat  in  the 
Virginia  Convention,  only  to  be  re-elected  to  represent  the 
colony  in  the  next  Congress.  It  was  at  this  session  of  the 
Convention  that  a  petition  was  presented  by  the  Baptists,  im- 
ploring the  privilege  of  their  denominational  ministers  preach- 
ing to  Baptist  soldiers.  The  request  was  granted,  and  Mr. 
Jefferson's  vote  for  it  was  his  first  act  in  a  movement  directed 
by  himself  leading  to  the  disestablishment  of  the  church  in 
Virginia,  and  to  the  general  separation  of  the  Church  and 
State  in  America.  In  September  he  returned  to  Philadelphia, 
where  he  found  Congress  greatly  aroused  over  passing  events, 
especially  the  presence  of  an  agent  of  France,  offering  the 
support  of  his  government  in  any  resistance  that  might  be 
determined  upon  against  England.  Congress  appointed  Jay, 
Franklin  and  Jefferson  a  committee  to  confer  with  the  envoy, 
resulting  in  successful  conferences  that  led  not  only  to  our 
French  alliance,  but  to  Mr.  Jefferson's  diplomatic  career  in 
France.  In  the  early  part  of  the  month  he  mourned  the  loss 
of  his  second  child,  Jane  Randolph,  and  in  December  was 
called  home  by  the  illness  and  death  of  his  mother.  As  a  fact 
he  was  very  unfortunate  with  his  children,  as  out  of  six,  only 
two  survived  infancy — Martha  and  Mary;  the  former  born 
September  27,  1772,  died  October  10,  1836;  the  latter  born 
August  i,  1778,  died  April  17,  1804. 

He  did  not  return  to  Congress  until  May  1776,  but  with  re- 
newed energy  for  work,  and  on  the  first  day  resolutions  were 
passed  advising  the  colonies  to  form  individual  separate  gov- 
ernments. Five  days  later  news  came  that  the  Virginia  Con- 
vention had  adopted  a  resolution  instructing  its  delegates  in 
Congress  to  support  a  motion  declaring  the  "  United  Colonies 
free  and  independent  States,  absolved  from  all  allegiance  or 
dependence  upon  the  Crown  or  Parliament  of  Great  Britain." 
Mr.  Jefferson's  relative,  Archibald  Cary,  reported  the  resolu- 
tion, as  he  had  also  the  reply  to  Lord  North's  "  Conciliatory 
Proposition,"  a  fact,  coupled  with  Mr.  Jefferson  being  in  Rich- 
mond at  the  time  the  resolution  was  passed,  and  his  custom  of 
never  appearing  himself  in  legislative  measures  when  others 
would  serve  for  him,  leading  to  the  belief  that  he  had  a  hand 
in  drafting  and  passing  this  most  important  act  of  the  Conven- 
tion. Congress  at  once  took  up  the  Virginia  resolution, 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  47 

whereupon  R.  H.  Lee  (June  7)  moved,  "  That  the  colonies 
be  declared  independent,"  which  after  two  days*  discussion 
was  postponed  twenty  days  for  further  action,  so  that  the 
other  colonies  might  reach  their  final  decisions.  Congress, 
however,  was  not  idle  any  of  this  time,  as  on  the  loth,  Jeffer- 
son, Adams,  Franklin,  Sherman  and  Livingston  were  ap- 
pointed to  draft  the  "  Declaration  of  Independence,"  and  upon 
Mr.  Jefferson  devolved  the  composing  of  that  celebrated  docu- 
ment— a  task  requiring  just  three  weeks,  and  performed  in 
his  parlor,  second-story  front  room,  southwest  corner  of  Sev- 
enth and  Market  Streets,  Philadelphia,  since  called  "  The  De- 
claration House,"  upon  the  site  of  the  present  Penn  National 
Bank  building — which  was  brought  before  Congress  on  the 
28th,  read,  laid  upon  the  table,  then  taken  up,  debated  three 
days,  slightly  modified  and  passed  on  the  afternoon  of  July 
4th.  Although  this  great  instrument  even  to-day  stands  as 
the  exponent  of  rare  thought  and  decision,  yet  it  has  been 
criticised  for  both  style  and  principles.  At  first  it  was  claimed 
to  have  been  copied  somewhat  from  Locke  and  Otis,  but  Mr. 
Jefferson  denied  any  plagiarism,  while  he  boldly  acknowledged 
it  to  contain  no  new  ideas  or  sentiments  in  these  words :  "  I 
turned  to  neither  book  or  pamphlet  while  writing  it;  it  is 
virtually  my  political  creed  and  faith."  Although  re-elected 
to  Congress,  June  1776,  he  resigned  that  seat  in  September, 
owing  to  the  demands  of  domestic  affairs  and  the  need  of  his 
counsel  in  the  Virginia  Legislature,  chiefly  in  framing  the  new 
Constitution,  of  which  he  prepared  the  outlines.  Congress  in 
October  selected  Franklin,  Deane  and  himself  envoys  to 
France,  for  effecting  a  treaty  of  alliance,  and  although  it  al- 
ways had  been  a  cherished  hope  to  visit  Europe — that  for 
which  his  first  sweetheart  had  been  asked  to  defer  marriage 
several  years,  the  alleged  cause  of  her  accepting  another — yet 
when  the  opportunity  came,  peculiar  family  circumstances  com- 
pelled him  to  decline  the  honor. 

In  the  fall  of  1776  he  took  his  seat  in  the  first  Republican 
House  of  Delegates  of  Virginia,  and  at  once  began  a  labor  of 
reform  that  proved  the  greatest  work  of  his  life,  including  a 
revolutionizing  of  the  public  and  private  laws  of  the  State. 
The  Virginia  code  sanctioned  tyranny,  cruelty  and  bigotry, 
but  it  was  now  to  be  made  reasonable,  humane  and  just.  He 


48  UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA 

fought  to  abandonment  the  pillory,  whipping-post,  stocks  and 
ducking-stool,  the  system  of  land  tenure,  and  then  introduced 
a  bill  abolishing  entails  on  the  claim,  "  That  one  generation 
has  no  right  to  bind  succeeding  generations ;  that  the  usufruct 
of  the  earth  belongs  to  the  living,  not  to  the  dead ;  that  entails 
were  contrary  to  good  policy,  tended  to  deceive  honest  traders 
who  gave  credit  on  the  visible  possession  of  such  estates,  dis- 
couraged the  holder  from  improving  his  lands,  and  sometimes 
did  injury  to  the  morals  of  youth  by  rendering  them  independ- 
ent of  and  disobedient  to  their  parents.  This  privilege  should 
be  annulled,  and  instead  of  an  aristocracy  of  wealth,  of  more 
harm  and  danger  than  benefit  to  society,  we  should  make  an 
opening  for  the  aristocracy  of  virtue  and  talent."  Conse- 
quently tenure  by  fee-tail  was  wiped  from  the  statute,  lands  and 
slaves  could  no  longer  be  prevented  by  law  from  falling  into 
the  hands  of  their  rightful  owners,  and  finally  was  removed 
the  only  remaining  prop  of  landed  aristocracy — principle  of 
primogeniture.  These  reform  blows  fell  hard  upon  the  aris- 
tocracy— the  old  families — so  that  the  recoil  and  criticism 
upon  Mr.  Jefferson  was  most  severe  from  the  great  land  hold- 
ers, extending  sometimes  to  their  children  and  grandchildren, 
yet  the  time  came  later  when  few  dishonored  his  memory,  and 
many  stood  proud  of  the  man  and  his  deeds. 

He  then  championed  a  reform  bill  for  easier  naturalization 
and  expatriation,  both  being  too  severe,  which  not  only  passed 
but  led  Congress  to  adopt  its  best  features  in  a  general  natural- 
ization law.  He  next  devoted  his  relentless  energies  in  favor 
of  religious  liberty,  incorporating  in  his  law,  "  No  man  shall 
be  compelled  to  frequent  or  support  any  religious  worship,  min- 
istry, or  place  whatsoever;  nor  shall  be  enforced,  restrained, 
molested,  or  burdened  in  his  body  or  goods;  nor  shall  other- 
wise suffer  on  account  of  his  religious  opinions  or  beliefs ;  but 
all  men  shall  be  free  to  profess,  and  by  argument  to  maintain, 
their  opinion  in  matters  of  religion ;  and  the  same  shall  in  no 
wise  diminish,  enlarge  or  affect  their  civil  capacities."  Prior 
to  this :  To  call  in  question  the  Trinity,  or  to  be  a  deist  was 
punishable  with  imprisonment  without  bail;  to  be  a  Catholic 
debarred  a  man  of  the  right  to  teach,  to  own  a  horse  or  a  gun, 
or  to  give  testimony  in  a  court  of  law ;  a  Protestant  minister, 
not  of  the  Anglican  faith,  could  legally  be  drummed  out  of  the 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  49 

country.  At  first  the  bill  met  with  disastrous  opposition,  and 
it  was  not  until  ten  years  thereafter,  when  sentiment  softened 
and  the  massive  strength  of  Mason,  Madison,  Nicholas  and 
Wythe  was  invoked,  that  the  bill  passed.  Thus  the  United 
States  became  the  first  Nation  to  separate  Church  and  State, 
to  tolerate  a  free  state  by  the  side  of  a  free  church,  along  with 
perfect  freedom  of  religious  opinion.  It  was  this  that  Vir- 
ginia, yes,  the  entire  country,  needed,  and  Mr.  Jefferson  was 
the  first  to  realize  seriously  that  need.  In  those  days  one  could 
not  vote  unless  owning  twenty-five  acres  of  land  with  a  house 
thereon,  or  one  hundred  acres  without  a  house;  in  a  city  one 
must  own  land  within  the  corporate  limit — possibly  the  other 
extreme  of  our  present  unrestricted  franchise.  He  next  drew 
up  and  offered  a  bill  preventing  the  further  importation  of 
slaves  by  sea  or  land,  as  he  was  an  abolitionist  in  theory  but 
recognized  that  to  be  impractical.  "  He  did  not  believe  the 
negro  could  live  as  a  free  man  side  by  side  with  the  white  man. 
but  he  believed  he  should  be  free,  and  that  he  would  be — noth- 
ing was  more  clearly  written  in  the  book  of  fate."  His  plan 
was  to  free  the  negroes  by  gradual  emancipation — to  regard 
as  lawfully  free  all  slave-born  children,  to  educate  them  at  the 
public  expense,  and  when  grown  transplant  them  to  some  dis- 
tant and  isolated  colony  where  they  might  enjoy,  under  a  mild 
protectorate,  the  privileges  of  self-government. 

Mr.  Jefferson,  however,  had  yet  pent  within  himself  one 
other  interest  he  considered  of  far  greater  moment  to  his 
people,  state  and  country — the  general  "  Diffusion  of  Knowl- 
edge." He  recognized  that  a  democracy  must  rest  upon  the 
enlightenment  of  the  masses,  and  accordingly  brought  forward 
his  system:  Free  elementary  schools  for  all  the  children  of 
the  State  for  a  term  of  three  years ;  high  schools  at  convenient 
places  for  superior  and  ambitious  youths;  a  State  university 
at  the  top.  Other  states  had  set  this  most  worthy  example, 
but  Virginia  seemed  decidedly  less  ready  for  it  than  she  did 
for  his  other  reforms — fortunately  he  was  willing  to  abide 
time.  The  actual  revision  of  his  State  laws,  1777-1778,  fell 
upon  himself  and  his  old  law  preceptor,  George  Wythe,  who 
together  went  over  carefully  the  whole  body  of  British  and 
colonial  statutes,  extracting  therefrom  a  concise  and  coherent 
system.  Their  report  consisted  of  one  hundred  and  twenty- 


50  UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA 

six  bills,  and  although  a  few  were  adopted  from  time  to  time, 
as  demanded,  the  entire  number  was  not  enacted  into  law  until 
1785,  when  Mr.  Jefferson  was  abroad,  but  who,  with  proper 
sagacity,  had  left  the  cause  in  the  efficient  hands  of  his  prom- 
ising neighbor  and  political  ally,  James  Madison. 

Mr.  Jefferson  at  the  age  of  thirty-six,  1779,  was  elected  by 
the  legislature  Governor  of  his  Statue,  and  re-elected  in  1780. 
but  in  that  capacity  proved  neither  a  great  administrator  or 
warrior — the  kind  of  man  then  needed  for  the  executive  head, 
as  British  invasion  and  Indian  ravaging  were  largely  the  dis- 
turbing elements — so  that  he  himself  did  not  regard  those 
years  as  specially  creditable.  Early  in  1781  the  British  fleet 
ascended  the  James  River,  and  in  June  Cornwallis  approached 
Charlottesville,  making  it  possible  for  a  body  of  raiders,  de- 
tached by  Tarleton,  to  visit  Monticello  the  day  after  Mr.  Jef- 
ferson retired  from  the  governorship  in  the  hope  of  carrying 
him  away  as  a  rich  prize  of  war.  Through  individual  alert- 
ness they  were  foiled  in  this,  but  did  succeed  in  injuring  to  an 
appreciable  extent  the  mansion,  papers,  property,  and  in  cap- 
turing twenty-seven  slaves,  who,  after  a  season  gladly  re- 
turned, but  with  a  pestilence  contracted  in  captivity  from  which 
most  of  them  died.  Mr.  Jefferson's  dislike  to  England  was 
ever  afterwards  more  intense,  as  his  own  eyes  witnessed  Corn- 
wallis' unnecessary  devastation  of  Virginia  and  the  perpetra- 
tion of  many  atrocious  outrages.  In  the  fall  he  was  elected  to 
the  Legislature  which  convened  at  Staunton,  and  appeared  in 
that  body  during  December,  but  only  for  a  period  sufficient 
to  defend  himself  against  the  attacks  of  certain  critics — retir- 
ing thereafter  to  Monticello  somewhat  chagrined,  yet  chiefly 
to  guard  with  tender  care  the  precarious  health  of  his  wife. 

This  withdrawal  from  the  Legislature,  spring  of  1782,  was 
supposed  by  him  a  final  retirement,  even  though  it  elicited 
strong  denunciation  from  enemies  and  inexpressible  regret 
from  friends.  Indeed,  Mr.  Monroe's  attempt  at  recalling  him 
to  a  more  healthy  view  of  life  was  futile,  since  it  reached  him 
just  at  the  death  of  Mrs.  Jefferson,  September  6th,  after  most 
trying  months  of  apprehension.  The  fleeing  from  Richmond 
at  Arnold's  approach,  the  solicitude  for  her  husband's  safety, 
the  birth  of  her  last  child,  and  the  sad  experiences  with  her 
many  dying  servants,  all  contributed  to  a  gradual  decline  which 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  51 

no  earthly  hand  could  stay — a  blow  in  spite  of  its  assurance 
that  fell  heavy  upon  Mr.  Jefferson  and  inclined  him  to  prefer 
seclusion  in  his  distressing  grief. 

Two  months  later  Mr.  Jefferson,  largely  through  the  efforts 
of  Mr.  Madison,  was  appointed  by  Congress  Minister  Pleni- 
potentiary to  Europe — a  position  he  had  declined  eighteen 
months  before,  June  1781,  when  he  thought  it  best  to  remain 
in  this  country  and  return  to  his  state  Legislature  in  order  to 
clear  himself  of  alleged  charges.  He,  however,  accepted  the 
appointment,  believing  a  change  of  scene  might  temper  his 
sorrow,  but  by  the  following  spring,  1783,  foreign  matters 
were  adjusted  so  as  to  render  his  going  unnecessary — that 
which  mattered  little,  as  the  preparation  all  during  the  winter 
for  the  trip  acted  well  in  lifting  his  gloom.  In  June,  1783,  he 
was  elected  again  to  Congress,  and  in  that  body  soon  became 
one  of  its  most  powerful  leaders,  serving  on  every  important 
committee  and  frequently  as  chairman.  He  initiated  and 
headed  the  ceding  by  Virginia  to  the  Government  of  the  entire 
Northwestern  Territory,  and  submitted  to  Congress  the  plan 
adopted  for  its  government — the  development  along  lines  of 
self-government  and  ultimate  statehood  of  each  growing  com- 
munity— surely  one  of  the  greatest  contributions  to  our  politi- 
cal history,  as  he  neglected  nothing,  giving  boundaries  of 
States  proposed,  nature  of  their  temporary  government  to  be 
established,  conditions  of  admission  into  full  statehood,  and 
fanciful  names  of  the  new  States.  The  most  far-reaching 
stipulation  was  the  prohibition  of  slavery  or  involuntary  servi- 
tude in  those  States  after  1800,  a  clause  that  at  the  time 
killed  the  plan,  only  to  be  taken  up,  however,  and  passed  in 
1787.  At  the  same  session  he  also  proposed  and  had  adopted 
a  modification  of  Mr.  Morris'  monetary  unit  and  plan,  thus 
giving  us  four  coins  in  the  decimal  ratio — ten  dollar  gold 
piece,  silver  dollar,  silver  dime,  and  copper  cent. 

In  1784  Mr.  Jefferson  was  appointed  by  Congress,  for  the 
fourth  time,  to  a  foreign  post,  it  being  now  to  France,  with 
Adams  and  Franklin  as  colleagues.  He  reached  Paris  August 
6th,  accompanied  by  his  eldest  daughter,  Martha,  whom  he 
placed  in  a  fashionable  convent.  The  mission  was  to  negoti- 
ate treaties  of  commerce  with  foreign  nations,  and  was  con- 
ducive of  slight  results,  even  though  the  next  year  (1785)  he 


52  UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA 

succeeded  Franklin  as  Minister  Plenipotentiary  to  that  court, 
who  returned  home,  while  Adams  was  sent  to  the  court  of 
England.  His  "  Notes  on  Virginia "  were  published  soon 
after  reaching  Paris,  which  assured  him  to  be  a  man  of  power, 
as  well  as  a  happy  and  forceful  writer.  He  had  entertained 
eminent  Frenchmen  at  Monticello,  knew  many  of  that  coun- 
try's officers,  which  together  with  his  frank,  graceful  and 
genial  manners,  made  him  only  second  to  Franklin  in  rec- 
ognized popularity.  He  was  known  also  to  be  an  uncom- 
promising advocate  of  the  sentiments  of  liberty  and  national 
rights,  then  so  popular  throughout  France,  but  in  spite  of  all 
this  his  desired  treaty  of  commerce  remained  a  dream  for  a 
time,  as  the  foreign  people,  especially  the  English,  mistrusted 
our  Nation's  credit — many  regarding  us  as  cheats  and  swin- 
dlers. Upon  this  point  he  wrote :  "  We  are  branded  for  the 
non-payment  of  our  debts,  and  the  want  of  energy  in  our  Gov- 
ernment. I  consider  the  extravagance  which  has  seized  my 
countrymen  as  a  more  baneful  evil  than  Toryism  was  during 
the  war.  This  feeling  is  most  pronounced  in  England,  as 
that  nation  hates  us,  so  do  the  ministers,  and  the  King  more 
than  all  others."  He,  however,  finally  succeeded  in  getting 
France  to  suppress  many  duties  on  American  products,  to 
abolish  certain  ones  for  specific  periods,  and  in  general  to 
make  concessions  which  were  granted  to  no  other  country. 
This  he  believed  more  important  from  the  moral  than  the 
material  stand-point,  recognizing  in  it  the  willingness  of  the 
French  government  for  national  intercourse  as  well  as  the 
people's  cordial  and  friendly  feeling. 

The  Barbary  powers  had  been  accustomed  to  capture  and 
confiscate  vessels  of  all  nations,  holding  the  crews  for  ransom, 
and  at  last  an  American  vessel  was  so  treated — that  which  in- 
cited a  conference  between  Mr.  Jefferson  and  Adams  but  with 
a  disagreement  as  to  the  best  action  to  be  taken.  Mr.  Jeffer- 
son was  firm  that  such  a  practice  should  be  stopped  by  force, 
and  to  that  effect  advised  Congress,  arguing  and  advocating 
the  necessity  of  a  navy — his  acknowledged  child — "  if  we 
mean  to  be  commercial." 

In  addition  to  his  diplomatic  duties  Mr.  Jefferson  kept  in 
sight  the  doings  at  home — aiding  her  interests  wherever  pos- 
sible, Thus  he  procured  a  statue  of  Washington,  consulted 


UNIVERSITY    OF   VIRGINIA  53 

architects  and  furnished  plans  for  the  Statehouse  in  Richmond, 
corresponded  with  Washington  in  reference  to  improving  the 
navigation  of  the  Potomac  and  the  running  of  a  canal  through 
the  Dismal  Swamp,  followed  the  desire  of  Kentucky  to  sep- 
arate from  Virginia,  advocating  it  as  soon  as  they  could  agree, 
and  kept  in  touch  with  our  governmental  action,  especially 
in  the  formation  and  adoption  of  the  Constitution,  which  he 
heartily  favored  and  approved.  In  his  second  year  abroad  he 
spent  two  months  in  travel,  chiefly  in  the  rural  districts  of 
England.  The  next  year  (1787),  having  broken  his  right 
wrist  and  becoming  much  depleted  thereby,  he  journeyed  up 
the  Seine  and  down  the  Saone  and  Rhone  to  and  from  Aix, 
where  he  spent  three  months  drinking  the  waters ;  also  visited 
Genoa,  Italy.  The  next  year  he  met  Adams  by  appointment 
at  Amsterdam,  and  after  transacting  pending  business  pro- 
ceeded up  the  Rhine  to  Strassburg,  observing  everywhere  the 
people — their  condition,  habits,  daily  occupations,  and  all 
economic  questions  dependent  upon  soil,  climate,  products,  etc. 
In  a  letter  to  Lafayette  he  said :  "In  great  cities  I  go  to  see 
what  travelers  think  alone  worthy  of  being  seen;  but  I  make 
a  job  of  it,  and  generally  gulp  it  down  in  a  day.  On  the  other 
hand,  I  am  never  satiated  with  rambling  through  the  fields  and 
farms,  examining  the  culture  and  cultivators  with  a  degree  of 
curiosity  which  makes  some  take  me  for  a  fool  and  others  to  be 
much  wiser  than  I  am.  You  should  take  the  journey,  for  it 
would  be  a  great  comfort  to  inspect  the  condition  of  all  the 
provinces  of  your  own  country,  but  it  must  be  absolutely 
incognito.  You  will  feel  a  sublime  pleasure  in  the  course  of 
this  investigation  and  a  sublime  one  hereafter  when  you  shall 
be  able  to  apply  your  knowledge  to  the  softening  of  their  beds 
or  the  throwing  a  morsel  of  meat  into  their  kettle  of  vege- 
tables." 

While  abroad  his  enormous  correspondence,  the  range  of 
subjects  treated,  and  their  length,  is  almost  marvelous,  bearing 
evidence  of  the  great  energy  and  method  with  which  he 
worked.  To  some  he  sent  new  astronomic  discoveries  and 
calculations,  to  others  described  improvements  in  musical  in- 
struments, narrated  explorations  into  natural  history,  sent 
descriptions  of  architectural  specimens,  gave  opinions  on 
statues  and  paintings,  also  accounts  of  agriculture  and  me- 


54  UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA 

chanical  invention.  Everywhere  he  observed  and  recorded 
faithfully  social  conditions,  noting  the  excellences  as  well  as 
the  defects.  The  more  he  saw  of  other  countries,  the  more 
highly  he  appreciated  the  superiority  of  his  own,  and  always 
used  as  a  text :  The  abuses  of  the  civilization  of  Europe,  includ- 
ing England,  in  advocating  the  education  of  the  masses  of  his 
own  country.  Especially  was  this  his  attitude  towards  France, 
which  he  saw  at  a  most  unfavorable  period — from  the  begin- 
ning of  the  follies  and  defeats  of  the  crown  and  nobility,  to 
the  armed  conflicts  in  the  streets  of  Paris  and  the  fall  of  the 
Bastile.  In  spite  of  the  attending  and  subsequent  horrors,  his 
faith  was  not  shaken  in  the  ultimate  good  to  humanity  that 
resulted  from  the  Revolution.  During  those  turbulent  times 
it  required  a  level  head  to  act  always  discreetly  and  above 
criticism,  but  this  Mr.  Jefferson  managed  to  do,  in  spite  of 
coming  in  contact  and  conferring  with  public  men  of  varying 
sympathies.  As  a  fact  he  contributed  much  towards  forming 
the  new  French  government,  often  interposing  simply  as  a 
lover  of  human  liberty  to  produce  a  new  life  for  the  people, 
then  ground  to  dust  by  the  abuses  of  the  governing  powers. 
He  incorporated  his  ideas  in  the  "  Charter  of  Rights,"  which 
though  not  adopted,  led  to  him  being  requested  to  assist  in 
drafting  their  Constitution — an  honor  he  declined,  and  yet  en- 
tertained at  his  house  "  a  number  of  leading  patriots  of  honest 
but  different  opinions,  sensible  of  the  necessity  of  effecting  a 
condition  by  mutual  sacrifices,  knowing  each  other  and  not 
afraid,  therefore,  to  unbosom  themselves  mutually."  The 
next  morning  after  this  assembly  Mr.  Jefferson  waited  upon 
Count  Montmorin  with  full  explanation  and  apology  for  the 
occurrence,  only  to  receive  this  reply :  "  I  wish  you  would 
habitually  assist  at  such  conferences,  for  I  am  sure  you  will 
be  useful  in  moderating  the  warmer  spirits,  and  promoting  a 
wholesome  and  practical  reformation." 

Mr.  Jefferson  after  an  absence  of  five  years  returned  to 
America,  December  1789,  having  been  granted  a  six  months 
leave  for  looking  after  his  private  affairs.  But  upon  reaching 
Norfolk  found  a  letter  from  Washington  tendering  the  ap- 
pointment of  Secretary  of  State — that  which  he  hesitated  to 
accept  for  several  months,  thinking  his  ambassadorship  more 
congenial  to  himself  and  important  to  his  country,  but  finally 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  55 

yielded  to  the  appeal,  when  Washington  sent  Madison  per- 
sonally to  persuade  and  explain  the  nature  of  the  duties,  and 
according  to  arrangement  reached  New  York,  the  then  seat  of 
Government,  ready  for  duty,  March  21,  1790. 

In  vigor  of  intellect,  self-confidence  and  experience  in  public 
affairs  Mr.  Jefferson  at  once  took  position  side  of  Hamilton, 
and  these  two  became  the  dominant  figures  of  the  Cabinet, 
as  Knox  and  Randolph  simply  reflected  their  views.  They 
had  never  met  personally  before,  but  knew  thoroughly  of  each 
other,  and  that  they  differed  radically  in  ideas  of  finance,  gov- 
ernment and  the  constitution  of  society.  Indeed,  Mr.  Jeffer- 
son unhesitatingly  affirmed  of  Hamilton.  "  He  was  not  only 
a  monarchist,  but  for  a  monarchy  bottomed  on  corruption; 
he  was  wedded  to  the  British  form,  thinking  it  absolutely  per- 
fect. I  want  the  Constitution  to  contain  a  Bill  of  Rights 
securing  freedom  of  religion,  freedom  of  the  press,  freedom 
from  standing  armies,  trial  by  jury,  a  constant  Habeas  Corpus 
act,  and  longer  presidential  term  to  make  the  occupant  more 
independent;  he  wanted  it  for  a  King  and  a  House  of  Lords, 
and  desired  the  general  government  to  make  laws  binding  the 
States  in  all  cases.  His  system  is  adverse  to  liberty,  and  cal- 
culated to  undermine  and  demolish  the  Republic,  by  creating 
an  influence  of  his  department  (Treasury)  over  the  members 
of  the  Legislature.  ...  I  saw  this  influence  actually  pro- 
duced, and  its  first  fruits  to  be  the  establishment  of  the  great 
outlines  of  his  project  by  the  votes  of  the  very  persons  who, 
having  swallowed  his  bait,  were  laying  themselves  out  to  profit 
by  his  plans;  and  that  had  these  persons  withdrawn,  as  those 
interested  in  a  question  ever  should,  the  vote  of  the  disinter- 
ested majority  was  clearly  the  reverse  of  what  they  made  it. 
These  were  no  longer  then  the  votes  of  the  representatives  of 
the  people,  but  of  deserters  from  the  rights  and  interests  of  the 
people." 

When  Washington,  through  his  great  honesty  of  purpose, 
brought  Mr.  Jefferson  and  Hamilton  together,  many  thought 
it  ill  advised,  knowing  how  widely  they  differed.  For  a  year, 
however,  their  relations  were  pleasant,  when  the  first  great 
difference  occurred  over  the  Bill  for  a  United  States  Bank, 
whose  charter  basis  Mr.  Jefferson  pronounced  absolutely  un- 
constitutional, although  it  was  signed  finally  by  Washington 


56  UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA 

— thus  giving  date  and  data  for  the  first  clear  division  of  the 
country  into  political  parties.  The  second  issue,  was  the  criti- 
cism and  claimed  interest  Mr.  Jefferson  had  in  editor  Freneau, 
and  his  National  Gazette — a  controversy  that  proved  to  be 
founded  upon  falsity,  while  the  fact  was  established  of  Ham- 
ilton largely  supporting,  by  his  departmental  patronage,  the 
Federalist  organ,  Fenno's  Gazette  of  the  United  States.  In 
this  controversy  Hamilton  lost  weight,  as  did  his  cherished 
pet  scheme — a  strong  central  government,  administered  in  the 
English  spirit ;  while  the  Jefferson  idea  became  more  popular-  — 
a  light  and  easy  central  government,  that  would  respond  read- 
ily to  the  will  of  the  populace;  universal  free  trade,  so  highly 
advantageous,  but  so  long  as  foreign  restrictions  on  our  com- 
merce and  carrying  trade  continues,  they  might  best  be 
counteracted  by  a  policy  of  liberal  reciprocity.  He  believed  in 
retaliative  methods  for  discriminating  restrictions,  considered 
foreign  relations  to  be  of  superlative  importance,  and  his  "  Re- 
port on  the  Privileges  and  Restrictions  of  the  Commerce  of  the 
United  States  in  Foreign  Countries,"  sent  to  Congress  at  that 
time,  contained  severe  criticism  of  Great  Britain's  rigorous 
attitude  towards  our  commerce  in  contrast  with  the  fair  and 
equal  principles  of  trade  proposed  by  France,  and  embodied 
the  germs  of  all  subsequent  party  discussion  and  division  on 
the  tariff. 

England  after  the  ratification  of  the  Treaty  of  Peace,  re- 
mained indifferent,  even  contemptuous,  towards  the  United 
States — manifesting  anything  but  a  conciliatory  spirit  on  every 
point,  so  that  our  Minister  (Morris)  was  recalled,  and  no 
treaty  of  commerce  instituted  until  1791,  eight  years  after 
peace  had  been  declared.  In  May,  1792,  Mr.  Jefferson  gave 
forth  his  ablest  State  paper  on  "  Foreign  Relations,"  recount- 
ing the  debts  paid  to  England,  and  her  failure  to  live  up  to 
promises,  but  it  had  no  effect  upon  her  actions.  Then  came 
the  internal  dissensions  of  France,  her  declaration  of  war 
against  England,  and  the  sending  to  our  country  of  a  new 
Minister,  Genet,  who  represented  the  extreme  type  of  their 
revolutionary  movement.  As  might  have  been  expected,  the 
partiality  of  the  Federalists  for  England,  and  the  Republicans 
for  France  rendered  the  situation  most  acute  throughout  our 
country.  The  Republicans  recognized  beneath  the  atrocities 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  57 

of  the  movement  a  contest  between  the  monocratic  and  demo- 
cratic principles  of  government,  and  the  sympathies  of  most 
of  them  were  not  to  be  extinguished  because  of  excesses  which 
they  considered  inevitable  in  the  transition  from  despotism  to 
freedom.  In  this  war  it  was  a  political  necessity  that  the 
United  States  remained  neutral.  Hamilton  and  Knox  thought 
the  treaty  with  France  void,  while  Mr.  Jefferson,  Randolph  and 
Washington  considered  it  valid,  consequently  the  latter  (Wash- 
ington) issued  a  proclamation  of  neutrality,  which  brought 
down  upon  him  much  criticism  from  Freneau  and  other  Re- 
publican papers — the  former's  insolence  to  Washington  person- 
ally causing  the  first  difference  between  him  and  Mr.  Jefferson. 
Genet  upon  arriving  began  to  act  in  utter  disregard  of  the 
prevailing  neutrality  laws,  thereby  causing  Mr.  Jefferson  to 
write  Monroe :  "  I  do  not  augur  well  of  the  mode  of  conduct 
of  the  new  French  Minister;  I  fear  he  will  enlarge  the  evils 
of  those  disaffected  in  his  country.  I  am  doing  everything  in 
my  power  to  moderate  the  impetuosity  of  his  movements,  and 
to  destroy  the  dangerous  opinions  which  have  been  excited  in 
him  that  the  people  of  the  United  States  will  disavow  the  acts 
of  their  government,  and  that  he  has  an  appeal  from  the  Ex- 
ecutive to  Congress  and  from  both  to  the  people."  While 
Mr.  Jefferson  was  grateful  to  France  for  her  hospitality  and 
kind  personal  treatment,  and  the  invaluable  aid  rendered  his 
country  when  in  need,  yet,  in  spite  of  recognizing  now  a  golden 
opportunity  to  reciprocate,  saw  plainly  that  such  a  course 
would  be  disastrous  to  our  infant  country,  consequently  ac- 
quiesced heartily  in  Washington's  policy  of  strict  neutrality, 
and  followed  his  line  of  duty  so  closely  as  to  occasion  Chief 
Justice  Marshall — who  always  towards  him  expressed  faint 
praise — to  write :  "  The  publication  of  his  correspondence 
with  Genet  dissipated  much  of  the  prejudice  which  had  been 
excited  against  him."  Upon  the  subject  Mr.  Jefferson  wrote 
Monroe :  "  I  fear  the  disgust  of  France  is  inevitable ;  we  shall 
be  to  blame  in  part,  but  the  Minister  much  more  so.  His 
conduct  is  indefensible  by  the  most  furious  Jacobin.  I  only 
wish  our  countrymen  may  distinguish  between  him  and  his 
nation,  and,  if  the  case  should  ever  be  laid  before  them,  may 
not  suffer  their  affection  to  the  nation  to  be  diminished."  He 
felt  Genet's  conduct  would  put  weapons  into  the  hands  of  the 


58  UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA 

Federalists.  Hamilton  urged  an  appeal  by  the  government  to 
the  people,  but  Mr.  Jefferson  thought  such  an  explosion  would 
certainly  endanger  a  dissolution  of  the  friendship  between  the 
nations,  and  ought,  therefore,  "  to  be  deprecated  by  every 
friend  to  our  liberty;  and  no  one  but  an  enemy  to  it  would 
wish  to  avail  himself  of  the  indiscretion  of  an  individual  to 
compromit  two  nations  esteeming  each  other  ardently.  It  will 
prove  that  the  agents  of  the  two  peoples  are  either  great  bung- 
lers or  great  rascals,  when  they  cannot  preserve  that  peace 
which  is  the  universal  wish  of  both." 

Genet's  indiscreet  language  and  insolence  so  increased  that 
the  Cabinet  requested  from  the  French  government  his  re- 
call, and  adopted  more  stringent  rules  for  maintaining  neu- 
trality between  the  contending  nations.  In  fact  the  affair  oc- 
casioned a  wider  separation  of  the  two  Cabinet  factions,  and 
led  to  slight  coolness  between  Washington  and  Mr.  Jefferson, 
which  happily  was  only  of  passing  duration.  Mr.  Jefferson, 
however,  had  determined  "  to  retire  to  scenes  of  greater  tran- 
quility,"  and  in  July  sent  his  resignation  to  Washington,  who 
not  only  urged  his  retention,  but  would  not  accept  it  until  its 
second  transmission,  December  31,  1793. 


CHAPTER   III 
THOMAS  JEFFERSON — IDEAL  PARENT  AND  PRESIDENT 

Retires  to  Monticello;  daughter  Martha — Mrs.  Thomas  Mann  Randolph — 
becomes  its  mistress ;  Rochefoucauld-Liancourt's  visit ;  Excise  Law, 
revolts  in  Pennsylvania;  Curtius  and  Camillas;  Jay  Treaty;  Vice- 
President,  Talleyrand,  Alien  and  Sedition  Acts ;  President — Burr  Vice- 
President;  inauguration,  address,  principles;  death  of  daughter  Mary; 
Judge  Samuel  Chase,  John  Randolph;  Embargo  Act;  administra- 
tions compared;  retirement,  declines  public  reception;  reconciliation 
with  Adams;  employment,  advocate  and  user  of  machinery;  corre- 
spondence, etc. 

MR.  JEFFERSON  had  served  four  years  as  Secretary  of  State, 
and  now  sought  rest  in  retirement  at  his  beloved  Monticello, 
where  he  expected  to  pass  the  remainder  of  his  life.  Although 
only  fifty-one  years  of  age  he  fancied  himself,  from  temporary 
feelings  of  indisposition,  a  very  old  man,  but  fortunately  the 
new  and  more  congenial  order  of  living  and  enjoyment  soon 
restored  his  health  and  youthful  energies.  William  Randolph, 
the  neighbor  friend  of  Mr.  Jefferson's  father,  left  one  son, 
Thomas  Mann  Randolph,  who,  in  turn,  gave  to  his  only  son 
the  same  name.  This  Thomas  Mann  Randolph,  the  second, 
became  a  member  of  Congress,  Colonel  in  the  war  of  1812, 
Governor  of  Virginia,  and  the  husband  of  Mr.  Jefferson's 
eldest  daughter,  Martha,  February  23,  1790.  They  were  sec- 
ond cousins,  had  known  each  other  from  childhood,  and  now 
came  with  their  two  children  to  live  permanently  at  Monti- 
cello,  to  grace,  minister  and  comfort  Mr.  Jefferson's  surround- 
ings. Mrs.  Randolph  was  highly  accomplished,  attractive  in 
manners  and  conversation,  possessing  rare  judgment  and  a 
strong  fondness  for  her  father — with  whom  John  Randolph 
of  Roanoke  quarrelled,  but  in  spite  of  that  pronounced  her, 
"  the  noblest  woman  in  Virginia."  The  household  was  com- 
pleted by  the  younger  daughter,  Mary  (Maria),  who  had 
spent  the  last  three  years  in  Philadelphia  with  her  father,  be- 
ing now  just  seventeen,  frail,  beautiful — resembling  her  mother 
— and  above  all  noted  for  her  extreme  unselfishness.  Thus 

59 


60  UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA 

again  Mr.  Jefferson  began  the  quiet  farmer's  life  for  which 
he  had  a  supreme  thirst,  devoting  most  of  his  time  to  general 
supervision,  reading  from  his  choice  library,  and  in  writing 
an  occasional  letter  to  his  former  colleagues — Edmund  Ran- 
dolph, John  Adams,  Tenche  Coxe,  etc. — but  declining  to  take 
and  read  any  newspapers.  To  Randolph  he  wrote :  "  I  think 
it  is  Montaigne  who  has  said  that  ignorance  is  the  softest 
pillow  on  which  a  man  can  rest  his  head.  I  am  sure  it  is  true 
as  to  everything  political,  and  shall  endeavor  to  estrange  my- 
self to  everything  of  that  character " ;  while  in  a  letter  to 
Adams  he  made  this  admission :  "  Instead  of  writing  ten  or 
twelve  letters  a  day,  which  I  have  been  in  the  habit  of  doing 
as  a  thing  of  course,  I  put  off  answering  my  letters  now,  farm- 
like,  till  a  rainy  day,  and  then  find  them  sometimes  postponed 
by  other  necessary  occupations." 

His  estate  now  consisted  of  ten  thousand  six  hundred  and 
forty-seven  acres — about  two  thousand  acres  being  continually 
in  tillage;  one  hundred  and  fifty- four  slaves;  three  hundred 
and  ninety  hogs;  three  sheep;  thirty- four  horses;  five  mules; 
two  hundred  and  forty-nine  cattle.  In  a  letter  to  Washington 
he  said :  "  I  find  on  a  more  minute  examination,  that  a  ten 
years'  abandonment  of  them  to  the  ravages  of  overseers  has 
brought  on  them  a  degree  of  degradation  far  beyond  what  I 
had  expected.  ...  I  am  not  yet  satisfied  that  my  acquisition 
of  overseers  has  been  a  happy  one,  or  that  much  will  be  done 
this  year  towards  rescuing  my  plantations  from  their  wretched 
condition.  Time,  patience  and  perseverance  must  be  the 
remedy ;  and  the  maxim  of  your  letter,  *  Slow  and  sure,'  is  not 
less  a  good  one  in  agriculture  than  in  politics." 

In  1796  Rochefoucauld-Liancourt  visited  Monticello,  and 
shortly  thereafter  wrote :  "  He  manages  his  farms  and  build- 
ings, orders,-  directs  and  pursues  every  branch  of  business  rel- 
ative to  them.  His  negroes  are  cabinetmakers,  carpenters, 
masons,  bricklayers,  smiths,  etc.,  and  they  are  nourished, 
clothed  and  treated  as  well  as  white  servants  could  be;  the 
children  he  employs  in  a  nail-factory — the  source  of  much 
profit ;  the  young  and  old  negresses  spin  for  the  clothing  of  the 
rest.  He  animates  them  by  rewards  and  distinctions,  etc." 
It  was  in  this  year  that  Mr.  Jefferson  solved  mathematically 
the  mould-board  of  least  resistance,  and  operated  on  his  own 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  61 

lands  his  ideal  plows,  which  became  known  throughout  the 
progressive  agricultural  world.  He  neglected  only  a  few 
months  the  political  activities  of  his  country,  for  Washington's 
address  to  Congress,  November  1794,  gave  him  the  deepest 
interest,  as  it  dealt  chiefly  with  suppressing  revolts  in  Penn- 
sylvania, incited  by  the  attempted  enforcement  of  the  Excise 
Law — an  obnoxious  law  of  Hamilton  that  Mr.  Jefferson  op- 
posed bitterly  from  the  very  first,  and  equally  now  the  manner 
of  enforcing  it — by  the  aid  of  fifteen  thousand  militia.  Con- 
sequently he  could  no  longer  keep  silent,  as  Washington  also 
vigorously  denounced  the  Democratic  Corresponding  Societies, 
which  in  some  States  had  been  established  in  imitation  of  the 
French  societies  of  that  name,  as  responsible  for  the  outbreak. 
Mr.  Jefferson  wrote  Madison :  "  The  denunciation  of  the 
democratic  societies  is  one  of  the  extraordinary  acts  of  bold- 
ness of  which  we  have  seen  so  many  from  the  faction  of  Mono- 
crats.  It  is  wonderful  indeed  that  the  President  should  have 
permitted  himself  to  be  the  organ  of  such  an  attack  on  the  free- 
dom of  discussion,  the  freedom  of  writing,  printing  and  pub- 
lishing. I  expected  to  have  seen  some  justification  of  arming 
one  part  of  the  society  against  another;  .  .  .  but  the  part  of 
the  speech  which  was  to  be  taken  as  a  justification  of  the  arma- 
ment reminded  me  of  Parson  Sanders'  demonstration  why 
minus  into  minus  makes  plus.  After  a  parcel  of  shreds  of 
stuff  from  ^Esop's  Fables  and  Tom  Thumb,  he  jumps  at  once 
into  his  ergo,  minus  multiplied  by  minus  makes  plus.  Just  so 
the  fifteen  thousand  men  enter  after  the  fables  in  the  speech." 
Scarcely  had  the  Excise  Law  troubles  abated,  when  arose  a 
general  dissatisfaction  over  the  "  Jay  Treaty  "  with  England 
— that  which  Mr.  Jefferson  heartily  disapproved^  writing 
Madison:  "  Thus  it  is  that  Hamilton,  Jay,  etc.,  in  the  boldest 
act  they  ever  ventured  on  to  undermine  the  Government,  have 
the  address  to  screen  themselves,  and  direct  the  hue  and  cry 
against  those  who  wish  to  drag  them  into  light.  A  bolder 
party  stroke  was  never  struck;  for  it  certainly  is  an  attempt 
of  a  party  who  find  they  have  lost  their  majority  in  one  branch 
of  the  Legislature,  to  make  a  law  by  the  aid  of'  the  other 
branch  and  of  the  Executive,  under  color  of  a  treaty  which 
shall  bind  up  the  hands  of  the  adverse  branch  from  ever  re- 
straining the  commerce  of  their  patron  nation.  There  appears 


62  UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA 

a  pause  at  present  in  the  public  sentiment  which  may  be  fol- 
lowed by  a  revolution.  .  .  .  For  God's  sake  take  up  your  pen 
and  give  a  fundamental  reply  to  Curtius  and  Camillus." 
When  the  "  Treaty  "  was  ratified  there  arose  even  a  greater 
storm  of  criticism  from  the  Republicans,  in  which  Mr.  Jeffer- 
son shared  strongly — not  even  sparing  Washington,  assailing 
the  treaty-making  power  of  the  Executive. 

Mr.  Jefferson,  however,  seemed  determined  to  remain  out 
of  the  activities  of  politics,  desiring  Madison  to  stand  at  the 
helm  of  his  party,  and  writing  him  to  that  effect :  "  The 
whole  mass  of  your  constituents  are  looking  to  you,  as  their 
last  hope,  to  save  them  from  the  effects  of  the  avarice  and 
corruption  of  the  first  agent  (Jay),  the  revolutionary  machina- 
tions of  others,  and  the  incomprehensible  acquiescence  of  the 
only  honest  man  who  has  assented  to  it.  I  wish  that  his  hon- 
esty and  his  political  errors  may  not  furnish  a  second  occasion 
to  exclaim :  '  Curse  on  his  virtues,  they  have  undone  his  coun- 
try.' .  .  .  There  is  not  another  person  (besides  yourself)  in 
the  United  States,  who  being  placed  at  the  helm  of  affairs, 
my  mind  would  be  so  completely  at  rest  for  the  future  of  our 
political  bark."  On  the  other  hand  Madison  was  just  as  in- 
sistent that  Mr.  Jefferson  take  the  leadership  of  the  party, 
which  finally  he  did  much  against  his  will,  as  he  preferred 
looking  after  his  impaired  health,  enjoying  the  society  of  his 
family,  agreeable  pursuits,  and  the  healthy  establishment  of  his 
business  affairs.  He  wrote  Madison :  "  The  little  spice  of 
ambition  which  I  had  in  my  younger  days  has  long  since  evap- 
orated, and  I  set  still  less  store  by  a  posthumous  than  present 
name.  In  stating  to  you  the  heads  of  reasons  which  have 
produced  my  determination,  I  do  not  mean  an  opening  for 
future  discussion,  or  that  I  may  be  reasoned  out  of  it — the 
question  is  forever  closed  with  me,  my  sole  object  is  to  prevent 
any  division  or  loss  of  votes  which  might  be  fatal  to  the  Repub- 
lican interests." 

Mr.  Jefferson's  nomination  for  Vice-President,  however, 
was  the  spontaneous  and  unanimous  wish  of  his  party,  and  in 
it  he  felt  constrained  to  acquiesce,  since  political  conditions 
badly  needed  his  counsel  and  personality,  but  during  the  cam- 
paign he  wrote  only  one  political  letter,  and  did  not  go  outside 
of  his  county  in  the  three  months  preceding  election.  On 


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UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  63 

January  i,  1797,  he  wrote  Madison:  "I  know  the  difficulty 
of  obtaining  belief  in  one's  declarations  of  a  disinclination  to 
honors,  and  that  it  is  greatest  to  those  who  still  remain  in  the 
world.  ...  It  is  the  only  office  in  the  world  (Vice-Presi- 
dency) about  which  I  am  unable  to  decide  in  my  own  mind, 
whether  I  had  rather  have  it  or  not  have  it.  Pride  does  not 
enter  into  the  estimate ;  for  I  think  with  the  Romans,  that  the 
general  of  to-day  should  be  the  soldier  of  to-morrow,  if  neces- 
sary. I  can  particularly  have  no  feelings  which  would  revolt 
at  a  secondary  position  to  Mr.  Adams.  I  am  his  junior  in 
life,  was  his  junior  in  Congress,  his  junior  in  the  diplomatic 
line,  his  junior  lately  in  our  civil  Government."  No  doubt 
Mr.  Jefferson  was  satisfied  thoroughly  through  the  hope  of 
effecting  some  compromise  with  Adams,  and  reached  Phil- 
adelphia, March  1797,  eager  to  assume  the  duties  of  his  new 
post. 

The  Federalists  considered  Adams'  inaugural  address  as 
"  temporizing,  and  as  having  the  air  of  a  lure  for  the  favor  of 
his  opponents  at  the  expense  of  his  sincerity."  As  a  matter 
of  fact  Mr.  Jefferson  was  more  than  willing  to  meet  Adams 
half  way,  and,  looking  towards  a  coalition  of  their  forces,  both 
had  interchanged  visits  (March  2,  3)  just  prior  to  the  inau- 
guration. At  first  Adams  was  very  free  in  conversation,  claim- 
ing a  desire  to  join  Gerry  and  Madison  to  Pinckney  in  France. 
Three  days  later,  however,  when  coming  away  together  from 
a  dinner  at  Washington's,  as  Mr.  Jefferson  reported  Madi- 
son's declination  of  the  position  to  Adams,  the  latter  ex- 
pressed himself  as  having  already  found  some  objections  to 
his  nomination,  and  with  that  dismissed  the  subject — thus 
making  it  the  last  interview  the  two  had  during  the  admin- 
istration upon  any  measure  pertaining  to  the  Government. 

The  "  Jay  Treaty  "  with  England,  and  Monroe's  recall  from 
France  so  enraged  the  latter  country  against  the  United  States 
as  to  cause  Adams  to  call  an  extra  session  of  Congress,  May 
15,  1797,  over  which  Mr.  Jefferson  had  his  first  experience  as 
presiding  officer.  The  address  of  Adams  to  that  body  greatly 
displeased  Mr.  Jefferson,  who,  convinced  that  those  in  power 
intended  forcing  war  with  France,  opposed  the  policy  of  the 
Government.  Political  passions  ran  at  fever  heat,  as  Mr.  Jef- 
ferson wrote :  "  Men  who  have  been  intimate  all  their  lives 


64  UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA 

cross  the  street  to  avoid  meeting,  and  turn  their  heads  another 
way,  lest  they  should  be  obliged  to  touch  their  hats.  This 
may  do  for  young  men  with  whom  passion  is  enjoyment,  but 
it  is  afflicting  to  peaceable  minds.  Tranquility  is  the  old  man's 
milk.  I  go  to  enjoy  it  in  a  few  days,  and  to  exchange  the  roar 
and  tumult  of  bulls  and  bears  for  the  prattle  of  my  grand- 
children and  senile  rest."  He  never  allowed  himself  to  be 
present  at  the  reading  of  the  President's  addresses,  as  he 
chafed  under  the  formal  and  fulsome  replies  of  the  Federalist 
Senate,  consequently  he  did  not  appear  until  after  Congress 
assembled  in  November,  1797 — a  session  that  had  little  to  do 
except  await  results  of  the  envoys  (Marshall,  Gerry,  Pinckney). 
This  mission  to  the  French  government  up  to  March,  1798, 
was  unable  to  secure  an  interview  with  Talleyrand — only  with 
his  unsatisfactory  agents — and  as  no  agreement  could  be 
reached  the  envoys  broke  off  all  negotiations,  a  necessity  that 
aroused  our  country's  indignation  against  France.  The  tem- 
per of  the  House  even  swayed  against  the  Republicans — the 
traditional  friends  of  France — and  although  Mr.  Jefferson 
urged  a  suspension  of  censure  until  the  exact  truth  was  known, 
he  was  rather  disgusted  at  that  country's  action.  Congress, 
indeed,  began  making  ready  for  war,  by  giving  the  President 
discretionary  powers,  placing  Washington  in  command  of  the 
armies  and  Hamilton  the  Inspector-General,  rendering  natural- 
ization more  difficult,  and  passing  alien  and  sedition  acts — the 
latter  aimed  at  the  native-born  Republicans,  as  they  were  op- 
posed to  war.  During  the  summer  (1798),  however,  the  war 
sentiment  abated  somewhat.  Congress  had  adjourned  and  its 
sad  minority  members,  realizing  their  insignificant  power  in 
that  body,  turned  their  attention  towards  influencing  various 
Republican  State  Legislatures,  especially  Kentucky  and  Vir- 
ginia, as  their  sympathies  were  so  cordial,  to  oppose  the  Gov- 
ernment's interpretation  and  inflexion  of  the  Constitution,  in 
the  passing  of  the  alien  and  sedition  acts.  Mr.  Jefferson  wrote 
the  Kentucky  resolutions,  and  Madison  those  of  Virginia. 
The  former  declared :  "  That  the  Union  was  not  based  on 
the  principle  of  unlimited  submission  to  the  general  Govern- 
ment ;  that  the  Constitution  was  a  compact,  to  which  each  State 
was  a  party  as  over  against  its  fellow  State;  and  that  in  all 
cases  not  specified  in  the  compact,  each  party  had  a  right  to 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  65 

judge  for  itself  as  well  of  infraction  as  of  the  mode  and 
measure  of  redress."  The  Alien  and  Sedition  Acts  were  de- 
nounced as  unconstitutional,  and  other  States  were  invoked  to 
join  in  declaring  them  null  and  void.  Madison's  resolutions 
declared  that,  "  whenever  the  Federal  Government  exceeded 
its  constitutional  authority,  the  State  governments,  in  Conven- 
tion, should  interfere  and  pronounce  such  action  unconstitu- 
tional." Mr.  Jefferson's  went  a  step  further — declaring  our 
Federal  Constitution  a  compact,  to  which  the  several  States 
were  the  one  party  and  the  Federal  Government  the  other; 
that  each  party  must  decide  for  itself  any  infringement  of  the 
compact  and  proper  remedy  therefor;  that  nullification  was  a 
suitable  remedy  and  one  that  any  State  might  employ. 

This  gave  rise  later  to  the  possibility  of  different  interpre- 
tations, such  as  advocated  by  Calhoun — nullification — where- 
by a  State  might  suspend  the  application  of  a  Federal  law  to 
its  own  district;  and  by  Jackson,  who,  equally  a  Jeffersonian 
Democrat,  could  find  nothing  in  the  resolutions  sanctioning 
such  action  by  a  State,  consequently  strenuously  opposed  nulli- 
fication. While  the  Legislatures  paid  little  attention  to  the 
advocacy  or  adoption  of  these  resolutions,  public  sentiment 
gradually  become  less  acute  and  more  thoughtful.  Mr.  Jef- 
ferson relinquished  no  efforts  in  the  interest  of  his  political 
faith,  and  wrote  Madison :  "  People  wish  to  hear  reason  in- 
stead of  disgusting  blackguardism.  The  public  sentiment  be- 
ing on  the  careen  and  many  heavy  circumstances  about  to  fall 
into  the  Republican  scales,  we  are  sensible  that  this  summer 
(1799)  is  the  season  for  systematic  energies  and  sacrifices. 
The  engine  is  the  press.  Every  man  must  lay  his  purse  and 
his  pen  under  contribution.  As  to  the  former,  it  is  possible 
I  may  be  obliged  to  assume  something  for  you ;  as  to  the  latter, 
let  me  pray  and  beseech  you  to  set  apart  a  certain  portion  of 
every  post-day  to  write  what  may  be  proper  for  the  public." 

Adams  and  his  Cabinet  began  now  to  disagree,  as  he  sus- 
pended war  preparations  and  dispatched  envoys  to  France 
with  specific  instructions — acts  culminating  finally  in  a  rupture 
with  his  party  leaders,  and  the  accession  to  power  of  the  Re- 
publicans. In  addition  to  these,  other  obnoxious  Federal  legis- 
lation— endangering  individual  liberty,  etc. — was  held  up  to 
ridicule  by  Mr.  Jefferson,  so  that  he  became,  in  the  eyes  of  all, 


66  UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA 

the  most  logical  presidential  candidate  at  the  approaching 
election  (1800),  a  position  to  which  he  was  nominated  unan- 
imously in  May  by  the  Congressional  caucus,  as  was  Burr 
to  the  vice-presidency. 

In  spite  of  this  high  honor  and  its  demand  for  success,  Mr. 
Jefferson  remained  all  summer  at  Monticello,  except  for  two 
short  visits — one  to  the  remote  part  of  his  county,  Albemarle, 
the  other  to  his  Bedford  estate — being  kept  busy  with  his 
farming  interests,  nail  factory  and  brick  kiln.  His  only  ex- 
travagance during  the  campaign  was  a  few  additional  news- 
papers, while  he  restricted  his  correspondence  to  three  letters 
from  the  time  of  nomination  to  election — bearing  silently  the 
many  effusions  to  defame  his  character  and  lessen  his  popular- 
ity. Within  these  three  months  it  was  proclaimed  far  and 
near,  in  the  press  and  on  the  platform  that :  "  He  had  ob- 
tained his  money  by  fraud  and  robbery;  had  defrauded  and 
robbed  a  widow  and  fatherless  children  of  their  estate."  In  a 
widely  distributed  pamphlet,  "  The  Voice  of  Warning  to 
Christians  on  the  Ensuing  Election,"  he  was  portrayed  an 
atheist,  French  infidel,  as  lacking  a  decent  respect  for  the  faith 
and  worship  of  Christians,  etc.  Thus  he  wrote  Dr.  Rush: 
"  The  late  attack  of  the  Federalists  on  the  freedom  of  the 
press  had  given  to  the  clergy  a  very  favorite  hope  of  obtaining 
an  establishment  of  a  particular  form  of  Christianity  through- 
out the  United  States.  The  returning  good  sense  of  our 
country  threatens  abortion  to  their  hopes,  and  they  believe  that 
any  portion  of  power  confided  to  me  will  be  exerted  in  opposi- 
tion to  their  schemes.  And  they  believe  rightly,  for  I  have 
sworn  upon  the  altar  of  God,  eternal  hostility  against  every 
form  of  tyranny  over  the  mind  of  man.  And  this  is  the  cause 
of  their  printing  lying  pamphlets  against  me,  forging  conver- 
sations for  me." 

In  spite  of  all  the  direct  and  indirect  methods  employed, 
Mr.  Jefferson  was  elected,  receiving  seventy-three  votes  against 
Adams'  sixty-five.  Unfortunately  Burr,  the  candidate  for  vice- 
president,  obtained  the  same  number,  seventy-three,  thereby 
compelling  Congress  to  make  a  final  decision — ordinarily  a 
task  of  little  moment,  but  now,  owing  to  a  Federal  plurality 
in  Congress,  with  which  Mr.  Jefferson  was  far  less  popular 
than  Burr,  a  conspiracy  was  planned  to  advance  the  latter  to 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  67 

the  first  position,  over  the  head  of  Mr.  Jefferson  and  the  will 
of  the  people.  Hamilton,  although  hating  and  distrusting  Mr. 
Jefferson,  would  not  sanction  the  scheme  and  in  a  letter  to 
Wolcott  said :  "  There  is  no  doubt  that  upon  every  virtuous 
and  prudent  calculation  Mr.  Jefferson  is  to  be  preferred.  He 
is  by  far  not  so  dangerous  a  man;  and  he  has  pretensions  to 
character.  As  to  Burr,  there  is  nothing  in  his  favor.  Better 
will  it  be  to  obtain  from  Mr.  Jefferson  assurances  on  some 
cardinal  points:  i,  To  preserve  the  actual  fiscal  system;  2, 
To  adhere  to  the  neutral  plan ;  3,  To  preserve  and  gradually  in- 
crease the  navy;  4,  To  continue  our  friends  in  the  offices  they 
fill,  except  in  the  great  departments  in  which  he  ought  to  be 
left  free."  The  proposed  strategic  movement  to  thwart  the 
popular  will,  if  successful,  was  filled  with  direful  consequences, 
as  the  people  were  incensed  to  a  degree  for  civil  war  and  a  rup- 
ture of  the  Union.  Hundreds  hurried  to  Washington,  anx- 
iously awaiting  results;  armed  Baltimoreans  were  restrained 
with  difficulty  from  hastening  to  prevent  and  avenge  a  viola- 
tion of  the  public  sentiment,  and  if  need  be,  hurl  the  usurper 
from  his  seat.  Mr.  Jefferson  was  yet  the  Vice-President, 
presiding  daily  over  the  Senate  where  he  listened  to  the  whis- 
pered designs  and  machinations  of  the  conspirators,  ever  mind- 
ful of  the  dreadful  sequel  of  their  nefarious  plot.  But  in  spite 
of  an  uneasy  mind  he  preserved  the  most  unclouded  serenity 
and  perfect  equanimity — riding  self-possessed  above  the  stormy 
passions  threatening  his  downfall,  maintaining  a  placidity  that 
baffled  his  enemies. 

Congress  met  with  closed  doors — the  Senators  as  witnesses, 
the  Representatives  as  electors.  The  ballot  continued  thirty 
hours — beyond  a  day  and  night — so  that  beds  for  the  sick  and 
wearied,  and  food  were  supplied  in  adjoining  rooms,  as  no  one 
felt  willing  to  miss  the  hourly  ballot.  On  the  morning  of 
February  I7th,  upon  counting  the  thirty-sixth  ballot,  one  ticket 
was  found  to  be  blank,  placed  in  the  box  by  James  A.  Bayard, 
Senator  from  Delaware,  who,  after  such  a  contest,  felt  it  best 
to  sacrifice  his  party  rather  than  his  country.  This  gave  the 
Republicans  a  majority  and  made  Mr.  Jefferson  the  third 
President  of  the  United  States.  Concerning  this  memorable 
incident  a  cotemporaneous  writer  truthfully  said :  "  Thus  the 
dark  and  thundering  cloud  which  hung  over  the  political  hori- 


68  UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA 

zon  rolled  harmlessly  away,  and  the  sunshine  of  prosperity 
and  gladness  broke  forth,  and  ever  since,  with  the  exception 
of  a  few  passing  clouds,  has  continued  to  shine  on  our  happy 
country." 

The  saddest  part  to  Mr.  Jefferson  was,  that  the  clumsiness 
and  inadequacy  of  the  law  admitted  the  possibility  of  such  a 
fraud  and  injustice,  and  two  days  before  the  final  decision  he 
wrote  Monroe :  "  If  they  could  have  been  permitted  to 
pass  a  law  for  putting  the  Government  into  the  hands  of  an 
officer,  they  would  certainly  have  prevented  an  election.  Many 
attempts  have  been  made  to  obtain  terms  and  promises  from 
me,  but  I  have  declared  to  them  unequivocally,  that  I  would 
not  receive  the  Government  on  capitulation,  that  I  would  not 
go  into  it  with  my  hands  tied." 

The  four  years  that  Mr.  Jefferson  was  Vice-President  were 
marked  by  unprecedented  party  rancor  and  bitterness,  and  al-, 
though  the  Senate,  over  which  he  presided,  was  composed 
mostly  of  Federalists,  yet  his  conduct  and  ruling  were  never  a 
subject  of  the  slightest  criticism — a  fact  thoroughly  attested 
by  the  Senate's  reply  to  his  farewell  address  before  that  body, 
February  28,  1801 :  "  Sir. — While  we  congratulate  you  on 
those  expressions  of  the  public  will  which  called  you  to  the 
first  office  in  the  United  States,  we  cannot  but  lament  the  loss 
of  that  intelligence,  attention  and  impartiality  with  which  you 
have  presided  over  our  deliberations.  Be  persuaded  that  the 
Senate  will  never  withhold  its  support  from  a  chief  magistrate 
who,  in  the  exercise  of  his  office,  shall  be  influenced  by  a  due 
regard  of  the  honor  and  interest  of  our  country." 

In  June,  1800,  the  offices  of  the  Government  were  removed 
from  Philadelphia  to  Washington,  where,  for  the  first  time, 
Congress  assembled  in  December,  in  spite  of  the  Capitol  and 
White  House  being  still  in  an  unfinished  condition.  The  latter 
building,  therefore,  had  only  been  occupied  by  its  first  tenant. 
President  Adams,  a  few  months,  when  Mr.  Jefferson,  March 
4,  1801,  took  the  oath  of  office  to  make  it  his  home  for  the 
succeeding  eight  years.  So  early  as  May  he  wrote :  "  This 
may  be  considered  as  a  pleasant  country  residence  with  a  num- 
ber of  neat  little  villages  scattered  around  within  a  distance 
of  a  mile  and  a  half,  and  furnishing  a  plain  and  substantially 
good  society.  The  whole  population  is  about  six  thousand." 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  69 

While  the  inauguration  of  Washington  and  Adams  had  been 
semi-royal,  that  of  Mr.  Jefferson  was  marked  by  great  simplic- 
ity— indeed  thus  described  by  an  Englishman :  "He  rode 
on  horseback  to  the  Capitol  without  a  single  guard  or  servant 
in  his  train,  dismounted  without  assistance,  and  hitched  the 
bridle  of  his  horse  to  the  palisades."  This  was  mere  fiction, 
as  in  truth,  he  went  from  his  lodgings  to  the  Capitol  where 
Congress  convened,  on  foot,  in  ordinary  dress,  escorted  by  a 
military  body,  accompanied  by  senators,  congressmen,  polit- 
ical friends,  etc.  The  ceremonies  took  place  in  the  Senate 
Chamber,  where  he  received  the  oath  of  office  from  his  political 
enemy,  Chief  Justice  Marshall,  and  delivered  his  address,  in 
which  he  thought  it  wise  to  enunciate  his  political  persuasion : 
"  Equal  and  exact  justice  to  all  men,  of  whatever  state  or  per- 
suasion, religious  or  political;  peace,  commerce,  and  honest 
friendship  with  all  nations,  entangling  alliances  with  none ;  the 
support  of  the  State  governments  in  all  their  rights,  as  the 
most  competent  administrations  for  our  domestic  concerns,  and 
the  surest  bulwarks  against  anti-Republican  tendencies;  the 
preservation  of  the  general  government  in  its  whole  constitu- 
tional vigor,  as  the  sheet-anchor  of  our  peace  at  home  and 
safety  abroad;  a  jealous  care  of  the  right  of  election  of  the 
people,  a  mild  and  safe  corrective  of  abuses  which  are  lopped 
by  the  sword  of  revolution  where  peaceable  remedies  are  un- 
provided; absolute  acquiescence  in  the  decisions  of  the  major- 
ity, the  vital  principle  of  the  republics,  from  which  there  is  no 
appeal  but  to  force,  the  vital  principle  and  immediate  parent  of 
despotism ;  a  well-disciplined  militia,  our  best  reliance  in  peace, 
and  for  the  first  moments  of  war,  till  regulars  may  relieve 
them ;  the  supremacy  of  the  civil  over  the  military  authorities ; 
economy  in  the  public  expense,  that  labor  might  be  lightly 
burdened ;  the  honest  payment  of  our  debts  and  sacred  preser- 
vation of  the  public  faith ;  encouragement  of  agriculture,  .and 
of  commerce  as  its  handmaid;  the  diffusion  of  information, 
and  arraignment  of  all  abuses  at  the  bar  of  public  reason; 
freedom  of  religion;  freedom  of  the  press;  and  freedom  of 
person,  under  the  protection  of  the  habeas  corpus;  and  trial 
by  juries  impartially  selected." 

Mr.  Jefferson  at  first  made  few  removals,  except  those 
Adams  had  "  crowded  in  by  whip  and  spur,"  after  the  result 


70  UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA 

of  the  election  was  known,  and  upon  the  subject  wrote: 
"  Some  deprivations  of  office  I  know  must  be  made,  but  they 
must  be  as  few  as  possible,  done  gradually,  and  bottomed  on 
some  malversation  or  inherent  disqualification."  He  lived  up 
to  this  sentiment,  and  of  all  candidates  considered  these  three 
points:  Is  he  honest,  capable,  and  faithful  to  the  Constitu- 
tion? 

Congress  was  for  the  first  time  Republican,  and  set  to  undo 
much  legislation  enacted  by  the  Federalists.  Newspaper  re- 
porters were  admitted  to  Congress;  naturalization  laws  were 
improved ;  internal  taxes  were  abolished ;  army  was  reduced  to 
three  thousand,  and  naval  appropriation  was  lessened.  After 
no  little  deliberation  and  effort  on  the  part  of  Mr.  Jefferson, 
Livingston,  Monroe,  etc.,  Congress  granted,  1804,  autocratic 
power  upon  the  President  to  purchase  of  Bonaparte  the  Lou- 
isiana Territory  for  fifteen  million  dollars. 

In  the  spring  of  this  year  (1804)  Mr.  Jefferson  was  re- 
nominated  for  President,  and  about  the  same  time  was  called 
to  Monticello  by  the  illness  of  his  daughter,  Mary — Maria  or 
Polly  as  he  was  wont  to  call  her — who  died,  April  I7th,  leav- 
ing two  small  children,  Francis  and  Maria — the  latter  dying 
in  infancy.  Much  to  Mr.  Jefferson's  satisfaction  she  had  mar- 
ried a  cousin,  John  Wayles  Eppes,  October  13,  1797,  who,  to- 
gether with  the  other  son-in-law,  Thomas  Mann  Randolph, 
became  highly  creditable  cotemporaneous  members  of  Con- 
gress during  his  presidency.  Her  death  was  a  crushing  blow 
to  Mr.  Jefferson,  but  slightly  palliated  by  the  many  letters  of 
condolence  he  received,  and  among  them  one  from  Mrs. 
Adams,  which  served  as  the  initiative  of  renewed  friendship 
between  the  two  families,  although  it  required  years  and  the 
kindly  intervention  of  Dr.  Rush  for  complete  reconciliation. 
It  was  about  this  time  that  Mr.  Jefferson  incurred  the  dis- 
pleasure of  John  Randolph,  of  Roanoke,  leading  to  absolute 
estrangement  and  bitter  enmity,  chiefly  because  he  took  so 
little  notice  of  and  interest  in  the.  impeachment  of  Judge 
Samuel  Chase,  whose  conviction  Randolph  so  urgently  de- 
sired. 

The  first  thing  of  moment  accomplished  in  Mr.  Jefferson's 
second  term  was  the  conclusion  of  the  war  with  Tripoli, 
through  a  partial  but  wise  compromise  treaty.  It  had  continued 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  71 

four  years,  costing-  many  lives  and  much  money,  with  but  one 
advantage — the  discipline  and  experience  gained  by  the  navy. 
A  little  later  our  relations  with  England,  France,  and  Spain 
became  strained,  owing  to  Bonaparte  insisting  upon  the  latter 
country  rebelling  over  the  possible  uncertainties  of  the  Louisi- 
ana Purchase  boundaries — a  menacing  danger  happily  averted 
by  our  purchasing  the  two  Floridas,  that  which  Randolph  and 
his  following  of  Federalists  and  disaffected  Republicans 
("  Quids  ")  opposed  strenuously. 

In  1806-1807  the  administration  was  confronted  with  Burr's 
conspiracy  in  Kentucky  and  Ohio,  by  which  he  hoped  to  place 
himself  on  the  throne  of  Montezuma,  and  extend  his  empire 
to  the  Alleghany,  seizing  on  New  Orleans  as  an  instrument  of 
compulsion  for  our  Western  States.  Mr.  Jefferson  and  his 
party  won  considerable  censure  by  not  being  more  vigilant  in 
apprehending  Burr  and  his  allies.  Chief  Justice  Marshall, 
John  Randolph  and  the  Federalists  were  very  severe  in  criti- 
cising the  Executive  for  not  furnishing  immediate  proof  of 
the  treasonable  plot — that  which  Mr.  Jefferson  claimed  would 
require  at  least  four  months,  adding :  "  The  fact  is  that  the 
Federalists  make  Burr's  cause  their  own,  and  exert  their  whole 
influence  to  shield  him  from  punishment.  And  it  is  unfor- 
tunate that  Federalism  is  still  predominant  in  our  judiciary  de- 
partment, which  is  consequently  in  opposition  to  the  legislative 
and  executive  branches,  and  is  able  often  to  baffle  their  meas- 
ures." 

During  1806-1807  the  insolence  of  the  British  warships, 
"  Leander  "  and  "  Leopold  "  in  firing  upon  the  "  Chesapeake  " 
and  other  of  our  coasting  vessels  incensed  and  inflamed  the 
public  mind  scarcely  short  of  disrupting  the  Union,  inasmuch 
as  Mr.  Jefferson  would  not  declare  for  war — that  towards 
which,  seemingly  he  had  great  aversion.  However  in  lieu 
of  this  he  caused  to  be  passed  finally  an  Embargo  Act  on  all 
shipping  within  the  ports  of  the  United  States  which  was  to 
extend  over  an  indefinite  period.  This  was  found  to  produce 
much  hardship  along  the  coast  especially  in  New  England,  the 
bed  of  Federalism,  leading  to  smuggling  by  all  classes  and  a 
growing  favor  towards  the  Federalists,  so  that  their  vehement 
clamoring  at  last  caused  its  great  modification,  almost  equal- 
ling a  repeal,  which  Mr.  Jefferson  signed  three  days  prior  to 


72  UNIVERSITY    OF   VIRGINIA 

vacating  office.  In  spite  of  the  embargo's  unpopularity,  Mr. 
Jefferson  protested  to  the  last,  that  had  it  been  adhered  to 
steadfastly  the  desired  purpose  would  have  been  accomplished 
— done  more  harm  to  England  and  France  than  to  our  country, 
and  American  shipping  would  have  its  rights  without  war. 

Although  many  dissensions  existed  in  the  Republican  party, 
Mr.  Jefferson  was  still  its  leader,  and  while  he  declined  a  re- 
nomination  himself,  he  easily  named  his  successor — Madison. 
Unfortunately  Randolph  detested  politically  both  men,  con- 
sequently he  and  his  small  following  strongly  urged,  without 
effect,  their  favorite — Monroe. 

As  a  matter  of  fact  Mr.  Jefferson's  first  administration  had 
been  peaceful  and  satisfactory,  but  his  second  was  filled  with 
many  harassing  conditions,  due  chiefly  to  his  favorite  theory — - 
the  preservation  of  peace  at  whatever  cost — becoming  very 
unpopular.  He,  therefore,  now  welcomed  retirement  with  the 
greatest  joy  and  in  these  words :  "  Within  a  few  days  I  retire 
to  my  family,  my  books,  my  farms;  and  having  gained  the 
harbor  myself,  I  shall  look  on  my  friends  still  buffeting  the 
storm,  with  anxiety  indeed,  but  not  with  envy.  Never  did  a 
prisoner,  released  from  his  chains,  feel  such  relief  as  I  shall 
on  shaking  off  the  shackles  of  power.  Nature  intended  me 
for  the  tranquil  pursuits  of  science,  by  rendering  them  my 
supreme  delight,  but  the  enormities  of  the  times  in  which  I 
have  lived  have  forced  me  to  take  a  part  in  resisting  them, 
and  to  commit  myself  on  the  boisterous  ocean  of  political  pas- 
sions. I  thank  God  for  the  opportunity  of  retiring  from  them 
without  censure,  and  carrying  with  me  the  most  consoling 
proofs  of  public  approbation." 

He  traveled  home  mostly  on  horseback,  and  in  spite  of  en- 
countering a  severe  eight-hour  snow  storm,  reached  Monti- 
cello  safe  and  well,  March  15,  1809,  where  he  passed  in  ideal 
contentment  the  remainder  of  his  life,  seventeen  years,  by  pref- 
erence secluded  from  the  world's  activities  following  the  fa- 
miliar paths  incident  to  farming  and  other  pleasurable  inter- 
ests— visiting  few,  visited  by  many,  and  establishing  the  Uni- 
versity of  Virginia.  He  was  now  sixty-six  years  of  age, 
cheerful,  healthy,  and  without  the  infirmities  of  old  age;  his 
home  continued  to  be  presided  over  by  his  accomplished  and 
graceful  daughter,  Martha,  who  with  her  husband,  children 


V 


; 


fe   O 


x    a 

»i    o 
ou  u 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  73 

and  grandchildren  supplied  the  full  pleasures  to  a  truly  hos- 
pitable Southern  life. 

He  declined  a  public  reception  tendered  by  his  Albemarle 
neighbors,  hoping  instead,  as  he  wrote :  "  To  have  opportuni- 
ties of  taking  them  individually  by  the  hand  at  our  court  house 
and  other  public  places,  and  of  exchanging  assurances  of 
mutual  esteem."  From  the  very  first  no  little  time  was  devoted 
to  reading;  then  his  correspondence  soon  became  extensive 
through  letters  to  friends,  noted  personages,  and  authors  of 
books,  pamphlets  and  addresses,  who  were  furnishing  him  con- 
tinually complimentary  copies.  In  spite  of  the  great  congeni- 
ality and  friendship  between  himself  and  Madison  letters  were 
interchanged  seldom,  as  their  enemies  made  so  much  capital  out 
of  the  false  idea  of  Mr.  Jefferson  still  dominating  the  admin- 
istration. His  interest  in  literary  and  scientific  matters  took 
on  renewed  activity,  making  him  known  to  every  learned  body 
of  Europe  and  America,  in  most  of  which  he  held  membership. 
In  a  letter  to  Kosciusko,  February  26,  1810,  he  wrote:  "  My 
mornings  are  devoted  to  correspondence;  from  breakfast  to 
dinner  I  am  in  my  shops,  my  garden,  or  on  horseback  among 
my  farms;  from  dinner  to  dark  I  give  to  society  and  recrea- 
tion with  my  neighbors  and  friends;  and  from  candle-light  to 
early  bedtime  I  read.  My  health  is  perfect,  and  my  strength 
considerably  reinforced  by  the  activity  of  the  course  I  pursue. 
I  talk  of  plows  and  harrows,  of  seeding  and  harvesting,  with 
my  neighbors,  and  of  politics  too,  if  they  choose,  with  as 
little  reserve  as  the  rest  of  my  fellow-citizens,  and  feel,  at 
length,  the  blessing  of  being  free  to  say  and  do  what  I  please, 
without  being  responsible  for  it  to  any  mortal.  A  part  of 
my  occupation,  and  by  no  means  the  least  pleasing,  is  the  di- 
rection of  the  studies  of  such  young  men  as  ask  it.  They  place 
themselves  in  the  neighboring  village,  and  have  the  use  of  my 
library  and  counsel,  and  make  a  part  of  my  society.  In  advis- 
ing the  course  of  their  reading,  I  endeavor  to  keep  their  atten- 
tion fixed  on  the  main  objects  of  science,  the  freedom  and  hap- 
piness of  man,  so  that  coming  to  bear  a  share  in  the  councils 
and  government  of  their  country,  they  will  keep  ever  in  view 
the  sole  objects  of  all  legitimate  government.  Instead  of  the 
unalloyed  happiness  of  retiring  unembarrassed  and  independ- 
ent, to  the  enjoyment  of  my  estate,  which  is  ample  for  my  lim- 


74  UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA 

ited  views,  I  have  to  pass  such  a  length  of  time  in  the  thraldom 
of  mind  (financial  depletion)  never  before  known  to  me.  Ex- 
cept for  this,  my  happiness  would  have  been  perfect." 

His  disposition,  however,  in  the  face  of  this,  never  changed, 
for,  as  in  youth  it  continued  always  sunny  and  hopeful.  After 
an  unfavorable  crop  or  event  he  looked  forward  with  assurance 
for  a  better  next  one  but  he  was  severely  prudent  when  con- 
fronting debt,  as  he  then  believed  it  a  duty  to  cut  off  every 
needless  expense — that  which  he  did  from  the  moment  of  his 
retirement. 

During  1811  there  was  considerable  friction  in  Madison's 
Cabinet,  in  which  Mr.  Jefferson  took  much  interest,  indulging 
in  no  little  correspondence  for  its  relief.  The  attitude  of  Eng- 
land and  France  towards  us  gave  him  great  concern,  and 
though  he  wished  for  peace,  he  finally  concluded  that  war  was 
our  only  alternative,  and  approved  of  it  when  it  came  the 
following  year,  1812.  In  the  summer  of  1811  he  experienced 
a  severe  spell  of  sickness,  after  which  he  wrote  Dr.  Rush : 
"  Having  to  conduct  my  grandson  through  his  course  of  math- 
ematics, I  have  resumed  that  study  with  great  avidity.  It  was 
ever  my  favorite  one.  I  have  forgotten  much  and  recover  it 
with  more  difficulty  than  when  in  vigor  of  mind  I  originally 
acquired  it.  It  is  wonderful  to  me  that  old  men  should  not  be 
sensible  that  their  minds  keep  pace  with  their  bodies  in  the 
process  of  decay.  It  has  been  the  delight  of  my  retirement 
to  be  in  constant  bodily  activity,  looking  after  my  affairs.  It 
was  never  damped,  as  the  pleasures  of  reading  are,  by  the 
question  cui  bonof  for  what  object?  The  sedentary  character 
of  my  public  occupations  sapped  a  constitution  naturally  sound 
and  vigorous,  and  draws  it  to  an  earlier  close,  but  it  will  still 
last  quite  as  long  as  I  wish.  There  is  a  fullness  of  time  when 
men  should  go,  and  not  occupy  too  long  the  ground  to  which 
others  have  the  right  to  advance." 

During  1812  he  enjoyed  a  complete  reconciliation  with 
Adams,  through  the  kindness  of  their  mutual  friend,  Dr.  Rush, 
and  thereafter  the  two  Ex-Presidents  until  death  indulged 
an  uninterrupted  correspondence,  much  to  the  delight  and 
buoyancy  of  both.  He  was  advocated  in  many  directions  for 
the  Presidency  in  1812,  and,  stranger  yet,  for  the  Secretary  of 
State  under  Madison,  but  both  of  these  proffers  he  gracefully 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  75 

declined,  stating :  "  The  hand  of  age  is  upon  me,  the  decay  of 
bodily  faculties  apprise  me  that  those  of  the  mind  could  not 
be  unimpaired,  had  I  not  still  better  proofs."  In  spite  of  this, 
however,  his  familiarity  with  the  languages  remained  im- 
mutable, for  he  read  Homer,  Dante,  Corneille  and  Cervantes  as 
he  did  Shakespeare  and  Milton,  and  even  the  year  before  death 
went  over  ^Esculus,  Sophocles,  Thucydides,  and  Tacitus. 

The  continuation  of  the  War  of  1812  deprived  us  of  im- 
ported goods,  and  increased  the  prices  of  our  own  manufac- 
tured articles,  at  the  depreciation  of  agricultural  products, 
so  that  we  were  stimulated  not  only  to  establish  additional 
industrial  factories  in  cities,  but  also  to  introduce  the  smaller 
machinery  into  our  homes.  Upon  this  subject  Mr.  Jefferson, 
January,  1813,  wrote:  "  I  had  no  idea  that  manufactures  had 
made  such  progress  in  the  maritime  States,  and  particularly 
of  the  number  of  carding  and  spinning  machines  dispersed 
throughout  the  whole  country.  I  have  hitherto,  myself,  de- 
pended on  foreign  manufactures,  but  I  have  now  thirty-five 
spindles  going,  a  hand  carding-machine,  and  looms  for  flying 
shuttles  for  the  supply  of  my  own  farms,  which  will  never 
be  relinquished  in  my  time.  The  continuance  of  war  will  fix 
the  habit  generally,  and  out  of  the  evils  of  impressment  and 
of  the  Orders  of  Council,  a  great  blessing  for  us  will  grow.  I 
have  not  formerly  been  an  advocate  of  great  manufactories. 
I  doubted  whether  our  labor,  employed  in  agriculture,  and 
aided  by  the  spontaneous  energies  of  the  earth  would  not 
procure  us  more  than  we  could  make  ourselves  of  other  neces- 
sities. But  other  considerations  entering  into  the  question 
have  settled  my  doubts." 

Throughout  this  and -the  following  year  (1813-1814)  Mr. 
Jefferson  continued  to  be  much  interested  in  the  progress  of 
the  war — -giving  advice  to  those  in  authority,  conducting  a 
liberal  correspondence,  and  strongly  expressing  opposition  to 
the  Hartford  Convention. 

When  we  consider  the  gradually  increasing  personal  dis- 
comfort that  the  mechanical  side  of  writing  gave  Mr.  Jefferson 
— owing  to  his  long  ago  imperfectly  set  right  wrist,  and  more 
recent  rheumatic  attacks — it  seems  almost  incredible  that  time 
was  sufficiently  long,  at  that  ripe  age,  to  write  such  lengthy 
and  studied  letters,  veritable  essays  and  literary  productions 


76  UNIVERSITY    OF   VIRGINIA 

of  high  order,  requiring  research,  if  for  nothing  else,  at  least 
dates  and  figures.  The  scanning  of  this  correspondence  from 
his  retirement  up  to  this  period  certainly  implies  a  great  de- 
mand upon  energy,  patience  and  thought.  Among  that  coterie, 
which  was  legion,  all  classes  were  represented — the  more  hum- 
ble citizens  receiving  none  the  less  consideration  on  account  of 
station  or  want  of  political  influence.  Besides  family  connec- 
tions, there  were  many  regulars,  including  such  personages  as 
Madison,  Monroe,  Adams,  Rodney,  Gerry,  Tyler,  Lafayette, 
Kosciusko,  Rush,  Gallatin,  DeStael,  Sparks,  Livingston,  Cart- 
wright,  Van  Buren,  Everett,  Cabell,  Giles,  etc.  The  subjects 
treated  and  discussed  were  all  of  a  serious  nature  conveying 
an  interchange  of  opinions  on  the  Bible,  clergy,  religion,  Chris- 
tianity, infidelity,  ethics,  politics,  Congressional  acts,  foreign 
questions,  criticism  of  books,  Latin  and  Greek  writings  and 
authors,  etc. 


CHAPTER    IV 

THOMAS  JEFFERSON — ADVOCATE  OF  KNOWLEDGE  AND 
EDUCATION 

University  of  Virginia — interest  in  "  Diffusion  of  Knowledge  " ;  his  educa- 
tional plan,  bills  incorporating  same ;  Quesnay  French  Academy ;  Swiss 
College  of  Geneva;  correspondence  with  Joseph  Priestley;  Mons.  Du- 
pont  de  Nemours;  National  University  at  Washington;  Professor 
Pictet;  Jqseph  C  Cabell,  Dr.  Thomas  Cooper,  Samuel  Knox;  sold 
library  to  Congress ;  letters  to  Dr.  Jones,  Adams,  Burwell ;  Lieutenant 
Hall's  visit  to  Monticello;  educational  plan  submitted  to  Peter  Carr; 
Albemarle  Academy ;  Central  College — first  Board  of  Visitors ;  Charles 
Fenton  Mercer's  plan;  Governor  Nicholas'  report,  etc. 

EDUCATION  seems  to  have  held  Mr.  Jefferson  an  ardent 
votary  from  his  earliest  association  with  William  and  Mary 
College  to  his  latest  realization — the  University  of  Virginia. 
From  manhood  to  old  age  he  never  ceased  expressing  paternal 
gratitude  for  his  classic  training  in  these  words :  "  If  I  had 
to  decide  between  the  pleasure  derived  from  a  classical  educa- 
tion which  my  father  gave  me  and  the  estate  he  left  me,  I  would 
decide  in  favor  of  the  former."  In  his  day  and  environment 
education  was  "  conspicuous  by  its  absence  "  as  the  majority 
possessed  it  only  in  low,  the  minority  in  high  degree — pre- 
senting a  difference  in  these  two  classes,  self-evident  to  every 
one,  that  amounted  to  an  inhuman  contrast  to  a  man  with  Mr. 
Jefferson's  sensitive  and  generous  nature,  eager  to  give  others 
that  which  he  possessed  and  enjoyed.  He  was  a  firm  believer 
in  the  Latin  proverb,  "  veritas  vos  liberabit,"  and  recognized 
the  passing  of  his  existence  in  an  atmosphere,  yes  a  country, 
sadly  lacking  in  its  observance — bound  by  ironclad  heresies, 
superstitions,  apathy  and  ignorance.  His  entire  being  was 
enthused  and  exhilarated  over  the  possibilities  in  reform — 
by  evolution,  or  preferably  revolution,  as  he  realized  a  great 
change  to  be  an  immediate  need.  At  the  same  time  he  desired 
to  destroy  nothing  bad  without  creating  something  good  in  its 
stead,  and  heeding  common  sense  plans  and  policies  he  accom- 
plished and  predicted  many  wholesome  results.  He  not  only 

77 


78  UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA 

believed  that  "  knowledge  was  power/'  but  that  the  emanci- 
pation of  mankind  from  the  bonds  of  various  servitudes  cen- 
tered in  education.  It  is,  therefore,  not  surprising  that  almost 
his  very  first  energies  were  directed  in  procuring  for  his  fellow- 
statesmen  better  opportunities  for  acquiring  knowledge.  Al- 
though re-elected  to  Congress,  June,  1776,  he  resigned  three 
months  later,  in  order  to  remain  in  his  State  Legislature, 
where  he  considered  his  efforts  most  needed  in  forming  a 
new  Constitution  and  in  aiding  many  desirable  reforms. 
Among  these  he  reckoned  as  greatest — the  curtailment  of 
ignorance,  by  a  more  general  "  Diffusion  of  Knowledge" 
among  the  people,  and  to  that  end  introduced  during  the  ses- 
sion three  educational  bills  furthering  the  support  of  his  gov- 
ernmental philosophy :  "  Experience  has  shown  that  under  the 
best  forms  of  government  those  entrusted  with  power  have  in 
time  perverted  it  into  tyranny ;  and  it  is  believed  that  the  most 
effectual  means  of  preventing  this  would  be  to  illuminate  the 
minds  of  the  people  by  giving  them  historic  facts  of  past  ex- 
perience, so  that  they  may  know  ambition  under  all  its  shapes, 
and  may  exert  their  natural  powers  to  defeat  its  purposes. 
It  is  generally  true  that  people  will  be  happiest  where  laws 
are  best  administered,  and  that  laws  will  be  wisely  formed, 
and  honestly  administered,  in  proportion  as  those  who  form 
and  administer  them  are  wise  and  honest;  whence  it  becomes 
expedient  for  promoting  public  happiness  that  those  persons, 
whom  nature  hath  endowed  with  genius  and  virtue,  should  be 
rendered  by  liberal  education  worthy  to  receive,  and  able  to 
guard,  the  sacred  deposit  of  the  rights  and  liberties  of  our 
fellow  citizens,  and  that  they  should  be  called  to  that  charge 
without  regard  to  wealth,  birth,  or  other  accidental  circum- 
stance. But  the  greater  number,  by  indigence,  being  unable  to 
educate  their  children  whom  nature  hath  fitly  formed  and 
disposed  to  become  useful  instruments  of  the  public,  it  is  better 
that  such  should  be  sought  for  and  educated  at  the  common  ex- 
pense of  all,  than  the  happiness  of  all  should  be  confined  to  the 
weak  and  wicked.  Instead  of  putting  the  Bible  in  the  hands 
of  children  with  immature  judgments  for  religious  inquiries, 
their  memories,  in  my  plan,  may  be  stored  with  the  most  use- 
ful facts  from  Grecian,  Roman,  European,  and  American  his- 
tory. The  finest  element  of  morality  too  may  be  instilled  into 


UNIVERSITY    OF   VIRGINIA  79 

their  minds;  such  as  may  teach  them  how  to  work  out  their 
greatest  happiness,  by  showing  them  that  it,  does  not  depend 
on  the  condition  of  life  in  which  chance  has  placed  them,  but 
is  always  the  result  of  good  conscience,  good  health,  occupa- 
tion, and  freedom  in  all  just  pursuits." 

His  bills  presented  a  comprehensive  and  thorough  plan, 
involving  the  division  of  each  county  in  hundreds,  each  of  five 
or  six  miles  square,  and  these  to  constitute  ten  districts  of  the 
entire  State,  and  further: 

1.  An  elementary  school  in  the  center  of  each  hundred, 
which  shall  give  to  the  children  of  every  citizen  gratis  compe- 
tent instruction  in  reading,  writing,  common  arithmetic  and 
general  geography. 

2.  A  college  in  the  center  of  each  district  for  teaching  two 
languages    (ancient   and  modern),   higher  arithmetic,  geog- 
raphy and  history.     This  places  a  college  within  a  day's  ride 
of  every  inhabitant  of  the  State,  and  adds  provision  for  the 
full  education  at  the  public  expense  of  select  subjects  from 
among  the  children  of  the  poor  who  shall  have  exhibited  at 
the  elementary  schools  the  pronounced  indication  of  the  apt- 
ness of  judgment  and  correct  disposition. 

3.  An  university  near  the  center  of  the  State,  in  which  all 
the  branches  of  science  deemed  useful  at  this  day  shall  be 
taught  in  their  highest  degree. 

The  bill,  as  a  whole,  lay  dormant  four  years  in  the  original 
manuscript,  until  Mr.  Jefferson,  when  governor,  advanced  it 
to  the  printing  stage;  then  followed  a  sleep  of  fifteen  years 
and  amendment  unto  death.  During  this  period  the  country 
was  experiencing  serious  agitation,  revolution  and  reorganiza- 
tion, with  little  incentive  for  internal  reforms,  while  beyond 
that  the  great  home  exponent  of  these  proposed  measures,  Mr. 
Jefferson,  had  not  been  permitted  to  remain  with  his  people 
to  look  after  their  needs  and  acts — having  been  called  to  posts 
involving  higher  and  more  serious  interests.  But  this  long 
period  was  not  a  barren  waste  to  the  cause  of  education,  for 
the  people  were  becoming  gradually  sensible  of  its  advantages, 
indeed  necessity,  and  Mr.  Jefferson,  better  acquainted  with  its 
methods  of  development  in  the  most  cultured  centers  of  the 
civilized  world. 

While  Minister  to  France,  Mr.  Jefferson,  with  many  other 


80  UNIVERSITY    OF   VIRGINIA 

celebrities,  loaned  his  name  to  the  establishing  in  Richmond, 
Virginia,  of  the  "  Quesnay  French  Academy,"  an  institution 
of  arts  and  sciences,  with  branches  in  Baltimore,  Philadephia, 
and  New  York.  It  was  to  be  on  a  gigantic  scale,  affiliating 
with  the  royal  societies  of  London,  Paris,  and  Brussels,  as  well 
as  with  other  learned  bodies  of  Europe.  Mineralogists,  mining 
engineers  and  experts  of  every  class  were  to  come  from  Paris  to 
the  New  Academy  to  teach  American  youth  and  to  serve  as 
scientific  commissioners  for  governments.  All  research  results 
were  to  be  communicated  to  other  countries,  so  that  there 
might  be  established  a  comity  of  interests,  and  although  the 
foundation  of  the  building  was  laid,  June  24,  1 786,  with  great 
eclat  and  apparently  under  most  favorable  circumstances,  yet 
the  close  following  of  the  French  Revolution,  when  capital  and 
scholars,  so  much  needed  at  home,  were  timid  towards  foreign 
undertakings,  rendered  the  brilliant  project  of  very  short  life. 
The  original  building,  however,  was  finished,  but  soon  after- 
wards converted  into  a  theater — the  first  in  Richmond — and 
better  yet,  has  played  a  historical  part  by  sheltering  legislative 
bodies,  especially  the  Conventions  ratifying  the  Constitution 
of  the  United  States,  and  the  Federal  Union.  It  is  credited  by 
many,  that  had  this  Academy  prospered  the  University  of  Vir- 
ginia would  have  been  forestalled,  while  the  border  States 
would  have  been  dominated  largely  by  French  culture  and 
customs.  Mr.  Jefferson's  next  decided  step  to  advance  higher 
education  was  in  1795,  when  he  favored  transplanting  to  Vir- 
ginia the  entire  faculty  of  the  Swiss  College  of  Geneva — 
thoroughly  French  in  its  form  of  culture.  He  had  met  in 
Paris  some  of  these  professors,  who  no  doubt  helped  to  implant 
in  him  the  more  liberal  systems  of  university  education,  for 
prior  to  that  association  he  heartily  countenanced  developing 
the  curriculum  of  William  and  Mary  College,  but  of  this 
nothing  was  heard  after  his  return  to  America.  This  Faculty, 
having  become  dissatisfied  with  the  political  environment, 
wrote  to  Mr.  Jefferson,  an  old  friend  to  most  of  its  members, 
expressing  a  willingness  to  come  over  in  a  body,  provided  suit- 
able arrangements  could  be  made  for  continuing  its  academic 
work.  Mr.  Jefferson  now  thought  his  dreams  near  unto 
realization,  and  suggested  to  his  Legislature  that  it  make  pro- 
vision for  the  establishment  of  the  Genevan  College  in  Vir- 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  81 

ginia.  The  practical  thinkers,  however,  considered  the  scheme 
too  hazardous  and  expensive,  while  Washington,  who  had  fos- 
tered the  idea  of  a  National  University,  expressed  opposition 
thus :  "  I  doubt  the  expediency  of  importing  a  body  of  foreign 
professors  not  familiar  with  the  English  language  and  at  vari- 
ance with  the  popular  party  in  their  own  land.  If  we  are  to  im- 
port professors,  they  should  not  be  all  from  one  nation."  Mr. 
Jefferson,  encountering  discouragement  in  all  directions,  had 
to  abandon  this  tempting  proposition,  but  his  bounteous  hope 
and  ambition  for  a  great  Southern  center  of  education  faded 
not  the  slightest  with  failure,  as  five  years  later,  January  18, 
1800,  we  find  him  communicating  to  Dr.  Joseph  Priestley 
well-matured  plans  for  a  new  institution.  Dr.  Priestley,  with 
his  family  and  son-in-law,  Dr.  Thomas  Cooper,  had  emigrated 
to  this  country,  1794,,  settling  in  Northumberland,  Pennsyl- 
vania, and  was  regarded  possibly  as  the  then  greatest  English 
scientist,  being  the  leading  authority  on  electricity  and  a  chem- 
ist of  the  highest  rank — the  discoverer  of  oxygen,  simultane- 
ously with  Scheele  in  Sweden,  the  initiator  of  gas  analysis 
and  author  of  "  History  of  Electricity  "  (1767).  Beyond  pro- 
found scholarship  he  was  an  excellent  preacher,  proclaiming, 
to  the  utter  disgust  of  many,  adverse  doctrines  to  the  Church 
of  England,  which  caused  his  house,  chapel,  books,  papers,  ap- 
paratus and  all  belongings  to  be  burned  and  destroyed  by  a  loyal 
and  pious  mob  of  Birmingham.  Mr.  Jefferson  welcomed  with 
open  arms  such  talented  men  as  Priestley  and  Cooper,  seeking 
shelter  and  protection  in  our  land,  and  in  his  letter  of  above 
date  revealed  his  devised  scheme :  "  We  wish  to  establish  in 
the  upper  district  of  Virginia,  more  central  than  William  and 
Mary  College,  an  university  on  a  plan  so  broad  and  liberal 
and  modern,  as  to  be  worth  patronizing  with  the  public  sup- 
port, and  be  a  temptation  to  the  youth  of  other  States  to  come 
and  drink  of  the  cup  of  knowledge  and  fraternize  with  us. 
The  first  step  is  to  obtain  a  good  plan;  that  is,  a  judicious  se- 
lection of  the  sciences,  and  a  practical  grouping  of  some  of 
them  together,  and  ramifying  of  others,'  so  as  to  adopt  the 
professorships  to  our  uses  and  our  means.  Now  there  is  no 
one  to  whom  this  subject  is  so  familiar  as  yourself,  and  to 
you  we  address  our  solicitations.  We  should  propose  that 
the  professors  follow  no  other  calling,  so  that  their  whole 


82  UNIVERSITY    OF   VIRGINIA 

time  may  be  given  to  their  academical  functions;  and  we 
should  propose  to  draw  from  Europe  the  first  characters 
in  science,  by  considerable  temptations,  which  would  not  need 
to  be  repeated  after  the  first  set  should  have  prepared  fit  suc- 
cessors and  given  reputation  to  the  institution.  From  such 
splendid  characters  I  have  received  offers  most  perfectly  rea- 
sonable and  practical." 

About  this  time  (1800)  Mons.  Dupont  de  Nemours,  a 
highly  educated  French  economist  and  philosopher,  reached 
this  country,  having  been  friendly  with  Mr.  Jefferson  in  Paris, 
close  to  Turgot,  and  an  ardent  worker  in  averting  the  French 
Revolution.  While  here  he  visited  Mr.  Jefferson  frequently 
— at  Philadelphia,  Washington  and  Monticello — when  they 
discussed  freely  a  general  scheme  for  higher  education  in 
America,  which  he  followed  by  an  exhaustive  treatise  of  one 
hundred  and  fifty-nine  pages  upon  the  subject,  outlining  our 
educational  needs  according  to  his  opinion — preparatory 
schools  of  all  grades  in  the  several  States,  and  a  central  mam- 
moth "  National  University,"  at  Washington,  second  to  the 
capitol,  consisting  of  four  departments:  i,  Medicine;  2, 
Mines;  3,  Social  Science  and  Legislation;  4,  Higher  Mathe- 
matics. In  order  to  reach  this  University  one  must  have 
passed  through  all  the  ascending  schools — a  fact  that  rendered 
the  plan  too  comprehensive  for  those  unsettled  days,  but  en- 
couraged Mr.  Jefferson  in  his  own  educational  scheme  for  his 
State,  that  which  he  had  formulated  largely  from  French 
and  German  institutions,  those  fostering  advanced  instruction 
in  distinct  schools. 

In  1803  Mr.  Jefferson  renewed  his  correspondence  with 
Professor  Pictet,  of  the  Genevan  College,  writing  him  Febru- 
ary 5th :  "  I  have  still  had  constantly  in  view  to  propose  to  the 
Legislature  of  Virginia  the  establishment  of  a  good  *  seminary 
of  learning '  on  as  large  a  scale  as  our  present  circumstances 
would  require  or  bear,  but  as  yet  no  favorable  moment  has 
occurred.  In  the  meanwhile  I  am  endeavoring  to  procure 
materials  for  a  good  plan.  With  this  view  I  am  asking  the 
favor  of  you  to  give  me  a  sketch  of  the  branches  of  science 
taught  in  your  college,  how  they  are  distributed  among  the 
professors ;  that  is  to  say,  how  many  professors  there  are  and 
what  branches  of  science  are  allotted  to  each  professor,  and 


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UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  83 

the  days  and  hours  assigned  to  each  branch.  Your  successful 
experience  in  the  distribution  of  business  will  be  a  valuable 
guide  to  us  who  are  without  experience."  During  Mr.  Jeffer- 
son's second  Presidential  term,  1806,  a  young  Virginian  called 
upon  him  in  Washington,  bearing  simply  commendable  letters 
of  introduction.  It  was  Joseph  Carrington  Cabell,  just  twenty- 
eight  years  of  age,  on  his  way  home  from  a  three  years  ab- 
sence in  Europe,  where  he  had  gone  for  travel,  study  and  the 
improvement  of  health.  He  seemingly  had  used  Mr.  Jef- 
ferson as  an  exemplar — graduating  at  William  and  Mary  Col- 
lege, studying  law  at  Williamsburg,  accepting  Paris  as  his 
foreign  educational  center.  He  had  attended  lectures  under 
Cuvier  at  the  "  College  de  France,"  had  absorbed  natural 
science  at  Montpelier,  had  sojourned  at  the  Universities  at 
Leyden,  Padua,  Rome,  Naples,  Cambridge  and  Oxford,  and 
through  this  long  line  of  contact  and  influence  had  become 
naturally  a  broad-minded  thinker  and  critical  observer.  But 
above  all  he  held  as  the  most  deserving  mission  in  life  the 
furtherance  of  improved  educational  methods  in  his  own  State, 
interesting  himself  in  Swiss  education  to  the  extent  of  study- 
ing at  Verdun  the  novel  system  of  Pestalozzi  in  the  hope  of 
introducing  it  into  Virginia.  Of  course  such  a  counterpart  in 
experience,  thought,  ambition  and  aspiration  appealed  at  once, 
heart  and  soul,  to  Mr.  Jefferson,  who  immediately  offered  him 
positions  of  civic  and  diplomatic  prominence,  which  were 
refused  on  the  ground  of  already  being  sufficiently  long  from 
home,  whither  he  must  hasten  that  he  might  speedily  become 
identified  with  the  interests  of  his  people.  A  year  later  we 
find  him  favoring  De  la  Coste,  a  French  scientist,  in  the  es- 
tablishment of  a  natural  history  museum  at  William  and  Mary 
College,  a  step  disapproved  by  Mr.  Jefferson,  who  already  had 
abandoned  the  possibility  of  increasing  the  scope  and  useful- 
ness of  his  alma  mater.  Upon  the  subject  he  directed  his  pri- 
vate secretary  to  write  Cabell :  "  If  the  amelioration  of  educa- 
tion and  the  diffusion  of  knowledge  be  the  favorite  objects  of 
your  life,  avail  yourself  of  the  favorable  disposition  of  your 
countrymen,  and  consent  to  go  into  your  legislative  body. 
Instead  of  wasting  your  time  in  attempting  to  patch  up  a  de- 
caying institution,  direct  your  efforts  to  a  higher  and  more 
valuable  object.  Found  a  new  one  which  shall  be  worthy  of 


84  UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA 

the  first  State  in  the  Union.  This  may,  this  certainly  will  one 
day  be  done,  and  why  not  now  ?  You  may  not  succeed  in  one 
session,  or  in  two,  but  you  will  succeed  at  last."  This  sugges- 
tion was  not  long  in  being  heeded  by  Cabell,  for  he  was  elected 
to  the  House  of  Delegates  in  1808,  where  he  remained  two 
years,  1810,  and  then  to  the  Senate  for  a  continuous  period  of 
nineteen  years,  1829,  becoming  a  far  greater  man  than  these 
home  political  positions  imply — being  entreated  to  represent 
his  district  in  Congress  and  to  enter  the  Cabinets  of  Madison 
and  Monroe.  These,  however,  he  declined,  preferring  an 
energetic  devotion  directly  to  the  good  of  his  State,  in  whose 
legislative  halls  he  became  a  most  able  and  persuasive  debater, 
a  formidable  champion  of  all  that  tended  towards  her  better- 
ment, breathing  as  none  other  the  spirit  and  ambition  of  Mr. 
Jefferson  for  local  government,  popular  education,  and  a 
great  State  University.  Indeed  but  for  the  mental  and  physical 
accordance  of  these  two  dominant  characters,  neither  of  them 
would  have  seen  the  University  of  Virginia  a  living  reality  in 
their  day.  It  would  have  come  later,  but  to  the  credit  of 
different  powers  and  persons. 

Mr.  Jefferson,  during  1813,  revived  an  earnest  interest  in 
higher  education  for  his  State,  making  it  the  most  vital  and 
absorbing  occupation  of  declining  years — 'happily  a  broader 
and  more  serious  field  than  an  overtaxed  correspondence  with 
which  hitherto  he  had  been  afflicted.  The  first  evidence  of  this 
appeared  in  agitating  the  subject  locally,  and  in  numerous 
letters  to  various  friends  and  educators.  Among  these  Dr. 
Thomas  Cooper  possibly  took  first  rank,  being  a  man  of  high 
university  culture,  well  trained  in  chemistry,  physics,  miner- 
alogy, physiology,  law  and  political  economy- — one  of  our 
earliest  writers  upon  the  latter  science  and  the  first  to  intro- 
duce the  study  of  Roman  law — the  son-in-law  of  Dr.  Joseph 
Priestley,  with  whom  he  had  escaped  political  and  religious 
persecutions  of  England,  and  now  resided  in  Pennsylvania. 
In  his  adopted  home  he  assumed  the  practice  of  law,  became 
a  judge,  and  afterwards  a  professor  in  Dickinson  College, 
University  of  Pennsylvania,  and  South  Carolina  College,  and 
the  second  one  appointed  (chemistry,  law)  in  the  University 
of  Virginia — the  first  being  Dr.  Samuel  Knox  (language)  of 
Baltimore.  Mr.  Jefferson,  January  16,  1814,  wrote  Dr. 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  85 

Cooper :  "I  have  long  had  under  contemplation  and  been 
collecting  materials  for  the  plan  of  a  university  in  Virginia 
which  would  comprehend  all  the  sciences  useful  to  us,  and 
none  others.  This  would  probably  absorb  the  functions  of 
William  and  Mary  College,  and  transfer  them  to  a  healthier 
and  more  central  position — perhaps  to  the  neighborhood  of 
this  place.  The  long  and  lingering  decline  of  that  College, 
the  death  of  its  last  president  (Bishop  Madison),  its  location 
and  climate  force  on  us  the  wish  for  a  new  institution  more 
convenient  to  our  country  generally,  and  better  adapted  to 
the  present  state  of  science.  I  have  been  told  there  will  be 
an  effort  in  the  present  session  of  the  Legislature  to  effect 
such  an  establishment.  I  confess,  however,  that  I  have  not  great 
confidence  that  this  will  be  done.  Should  it  happen,  it  would 
offer  places  worthy  of  you,  and  of  which  you  are 
worthy." 

The  first  decided  act  by  the  people  of  Albemarle,  indicating 
a  sympathy  for  higher  education  and  a  desire  for  their  locality 
to  be  the  seat  of  a  great  institution,  was  taken  in  1783,  when 
some  public-spirited  citizens  requested  Mr.  Jefferson,  just 
about  departing  from  Monticello  for  Trenton  to  resume  con- 
gressional duties,  to  secure  a  suitable  tutor  to  assume  charge 
of  a  grammar  school  or  academy  proposed  for  Charlottesville. 
In  reply  to  this  request  Mr.  Jefferson  wrote,  December  3ist: 
"  I  inquired  at  Princeton  of  Dr.  Witherspoon,  but  he  informed 
me  that  that  college  was  just  getting  together  again,  and  that 
no  such  person  could,  of  course,  be  had  there.  I  inquired  at 
Philadelphia  for  some  literary  character  of  the  Irish  nation  in 
that  city.  There  was  none  such,  and  in  the  course  of  my  in- 
quiries I  was  informed  that  learning  is  but  little  cultivated 
there,  and  that  few  persons  have  ever  been  known  to  come  from 
that  nation  as  tutors.  I  concluded  on  the  whole,  then,  if  the 
scheme  should  be  carried  on,  and  fixed  on  so  firm  a  basis  as 
that  we  might  on  its  faith  venture  to  bring  a  man  from  his 
native  country,  it  would  be  best  for  me  to  interest  some  person 
in  Scotland  to  engage  a  good  man."  The  contents  of  this 
letter  evidently  brought  temporary  death  to  the  academy 
scheme,  for  it  was  not  chartered  by  the  Legislature  until 
twenty  years  later,  1803,  and  then  remained  simply  on  paper 
another  ten  years,  March  25,  1814,  when  Mr.  Jefferson  was 


86  UNIVERSITY    OF   VIRGINIA 

elected  one  of  its  trustees.  At  this  meeting  and  several  others 
that  followed  in  quick  succession,  he  recounted  his  life-long1 
study,  identity  and  interest  in  educational  institutions,  and  his 
great  desire  to  have  a  creditable  one  in  his  State — boldly  ad- 
vocating the  abandonment  of  the  simple  academy  idea  for  a 
university  of  the  broadest  scope  and  usefulness. 

In  accordance  with  his  views  the  Board  of  Trustees  was  re- 
organized and  a  committee  appointed,  he  being  chairman,  to 
draft  governing  rules  and  regulations,  to  seek  subscriptions 
and  other  monetary  aid  by  promoting  the  sale  through  lottery 
of  certain  glebe  lands  in  Albemarle,  and  to  provide  a  suitable 
site  and  plans.  Mr.  Jefferson  wrote  Dr.  Cooper,  August  25th : 
"  To  be  prepared  for  our  new  institution  I  have  taken  some 
pains  to  ascertain  those  branches  which  men  of  sense,  as  well 
as  of  science,  deem  worthy  of  cultivation.  To  the  statements 
which  I  have  obtained  from  other  sources,  I  shall  highly  value 
an  additional  one  from  yourself.  You  know  our  country, 
its  pursuits,  its  facilities,  its  relations  with  others,  its  means 
of  establishing  and  maintaining  an  institution  of  general 
science,  and  the  spirit  of  economy  with  which  it  requires  that 
these  should  be  administered.  Will  you,  then,  so  far  contribute 
to  our  views  as  to  consider  this  subject,  to  make  a  statement 
of  the  branches  of  science  which  you  think  worthy  of  being 
taught,  as  I  have  before  said,  at  this  day  and  in  this  country  ? 
It  will  be  necessary  to  distribute  them  into  groups  in  order 
to  bring  the  whole  circle  of  useful  science  under  the  direction 
of  the  smallest  number  of  professors.  We  are  about  to  make 
the  effort  for  the  introduction  of  this  institution." 

Although  from  now  on  the  creating  of  the  University  was 
Mr.  Jefferson's  absorbing  pleasure — his  hobby,  as  he  termed  it 
— receiving  daily  the  greater  part  of  his  attention,  yet  by  forced 
effort  and  indomitable  will  nothing  seemingly  was  neglected  in 
the  older  directions  except  his  own  business,  that  which  he 
erringly  thought  might  run  itself  satisfactorily.  He  never  lost 
interest  in  the  affairs  of  our  country,  and  was  thoroughly  in- 
dignant at  the  British,  August,  1814,  burning  Washington 
with  its  Congressional  Library,  even  endeavoring  to  repair 
the  latter  by  offering  Congress,  at  its  own  price,  his  private 
collection  of  ten  thousand  volumes,  an  accumulation  of  fifty 
years  that  cost  as  many  thousands  of  dollars — an  offer,  after 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  87 

much  unpleasant  debate,  personal  crimination  and  recrimina- 
tion, finally  accepted  at  half  the  amount. 

During  this  year  he  wrote  Dr.  Jones :  "  I  deplore  with  you 
the  putrid  state  into  which  our  newspapers  have  passed,  and 
the  malignity,  the  vulgarity,  and  mendacious  spirit  of  those 
who  write  for  them;  and  I  enclose  you  a  recent  sample,  the 
production  of  a  New  England  judge,  as  a  proof  of  the  abyss 
of  degradation  into  which  we  have  fallen.  These  ordures  are 
rapidly  depraving  the  public  taste,  and  lessening  its  relish  for 
sound  food,  etc."  In  this  same  letter  he  expressed  opinions 
of  Washington,  which,  despite  the  claim  of  depreciation, 
amounted  to  a  glowing  eulogy  from  beginning  to  end.  In  the 
early  part  of  1815  he  catalogued  and  shipped  his  books  to 
Washington,  and  throughout  the  year  wrote  many  letters,  con- 
tributed material  to  Wirt's  Life  of  Patrick  Henry,  perfected 
several  mechanical  devices — adjustable  carriage  top,  hemp  ma- 
chine, etc. — and  pursued  a  number  of  scientific  investigations. 
Early  in  1816  he  wrote  Thompson:  "I  retain  good  health, 
walk  a  little,  ride  on  horseback  much.  No  tooth  shaking  yet, 
but  shivering  and  shrinking  in  body  from  the  cold.  My  great- 
est oppression  is  a  correspondence  afflictingly  laborious,  the 
extent  of  which  I  have  long  been  endeavoring  to  curtail.  This 
keeps  me  at  the  drudgery  of  the  writing-table  all  the  prime 
hours  of  the  day,  leaving  for  the  gratification  of  my  appetite 
for  reading,  only  what  I  can  steal  from  the  hours  of  sleep." 
Later  in  the  year  he  wrote  Adams :  "  You  ask  if  I  would  agree 
to  live  seventy-three  years  over  again?  To  this  I  say,  yea. 
I  think  with  you,  that  it  is  a  good  world  on  the  whole;  that 
it  has  been  framed  on  a  principle  of  benevolence,  and  more 
pleasure  than  pain  dealt  out  to  us.  There  are,  indeed  (who 
might  say,  nay),  gloomy  and  hypochondriac  minds,  inhabi- 
tants of  diseased  bodies,  disgusted  with  the  present,  and 
despairing  of  the  future;  always  counting  that  the  worst  will 
happen,  because  it  may  happen.  To  these  I  say,  how  much 
pain  have  cost  us  the  evils  which  have  never  happened!  My 
temperament  is  sanguine.  I  steer  my  bark  with  Hope  in  the 
head,  leaving  Fear  astern.  My  hopes,  indeed,  sometimes  fail ; 
but  not  oftener  than  the  forebodings  of  the  gloomy.  I  have 
often  wondered  for  what  good  end  the  sensations  of  grief  could 
be  intended.  I  wish  the  pathologists  would  tell  us  what  is 


88  UNIVERSITY    OF   VIRGINIA 

the  use  of  grief  in  the  economy,  and  of  what  good  it  is  the 
cause,  proximate  or  remote.  There  is  a  ripeness  of  time  for 
death,  regarding  others  as  well  as  ourselves,  when  it  is  reason- 
able we  should  drop  off,  and  make  room  for  another  growth. 
When  we  have  lived  our  generation  out,  we  should  not  wish 
to  encroach  on  another.  I  enjoy  good  health;  I  am  happy  in 
what  is  around  me,  yet  I  assure  you  I  am  ripe  for  leaving  all, 
this  year,  this  day,  this  hour." 

To  Adams'  reply  on  the  utility  of  grief,  Mr.  Jefferson  re- 
plied :  "  You  have  exhausted  the  subject.  I  see  that  with  the 
other  evils  of  life,  it  is  destined  to  temper  the  cup  we  are  to 
drink."  This  same  year  he  passed  over  to  his  eldest  grandson, 
Thomas  Jefferson  Randolph,  the  management  of  his  lands, 
and  of  the  fact  writes :  "  I  am  indeed  an  unskillful  manager 
of  my  farms,  and  sensible  of  this  from  its  effects,  I  have 
now  committed  them  to  better  hands,  of  whose  care  and  skill 
I  have  satisfactory  knowledge,  and  to  whom  I  have  ceded 
the  entire  direction.  This  is  all  that  is  necessary  to  make  them 
adequate  to  all  my  wants,  and  to  place  me  at  entire  ease."  In 
one  of  his  letters  to  John  Taylor,  May  28,  1816,  he  defined  the 
term  republic — a  government  by  its  citizens  in  mass,  acting 
directly  and  personally  according  to  rules  established  by  the 
majority;  and  every  other  government  is  more  or  less  repub- 
lican, in  proportion  as  it  has  in  its  composition  more  or  less 
of  this  ingredient  of  the  direct  action  of  the  citizens.  The 
further  the  departure  from  direct  and  constant  control  by  the 
citizens,  the  less  has  the  government  of  the  ingredient  of  re- 
publicanism. The  Senate  is  less  so  than  the  House. 

In  the  early  part  of  1817  Lieutenant  Hall,  of  the  British 
Army,  an  intelligent  traveler,  visited  Monticello,  writing  there- 
of a  beautiful  description.  Mr.  Monroe  also  became  President, 
much  to  the  delight  of  Mr.  Jefferson,  as  he  believed  "  twenty- 
four  consecutive  years  of  republican  administration  would  so 
consecrate  its  forms  and  principles  in  the  eyes  of  the  people 
as  to  secure  them  against  the  danger  of  a  change."  In  a  letter 
to  Dr.  Stuart  he  wrote :  "  I  hope  the  policy  of  our  country 
will  settle  down  with  as  much  navigation  and  commerce  only 
as  our  exchanges  will  require."  He  heartily  approved  of  the 
President's  veto  of  the  Internal  Improvement  Bill,  and  in  a 
letter  to  Adams,  January  n,  1817,  wrote:  "Forty-three 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  89 

volumes  read  in  one  year,  and  twelve  of  them  quarto!  Dear 
sir,  how  I  envy  you!  Half  a  dozen  of  octavos  in  that  space 
of  time  are  as  much  as  I  am  allowed.  I  can  read  by  candle- 
light only,  and  stealing  long  hours  from  my  rest;  nor  would 
that  time  be  indulged  to  me,  could  I  by  that  light  see  to  write. 
From  sunrise  to  one  or  two  o'clock  and  often  from  dinner 
to  dark,  I  am  drudging  at  the  writing-table.  And  all  of  this 
to  answer  letters  in  which  neither  interest  nor  inclination  on 
my  part  enters;  and  often  from  persons  whose  names  I  have 
never  before  heard.  Yet,  writing  civilly,  it  is  hard  to  refuse 
them  civil  answers.  This  is  the  burden  of  my  life."  Indeed, 
when  President  his  published  writings  included  considerably 
less  than  one-fiftieth  part  of  his  written  letters. 

In  a  letter  to  Burwell,  March  14,  1818,  upon  female  educa- 
tion, he  said :  "A  great  obstacle  to  good  education  is  the 
inordinate  passion  prevalent  for  novels,  and  the  time  lost  in 
that  reading  which  should  be  instructively  employed.  When 
this  poison  infects  the  mind,  it  destroys  its  tone  and  revolts 
it  against  wholesome  reading."  Even  Scott's  novels  were  not 
to  his  taste,  refusing  to  read  them,  and  to  accept  either  prose 
or  poetry  of  the  romantic  school,  while  he  detested  the  middle- 
age  political  civilization,  especially  the  feudal  system,  just  as 
much  as  Scott  admired  them;  he  was  the  warm  sympathizer 
with  common  humanity  as  Scott  was  with  kings  and  nobles. 

The  most  absorbing  topic,  however,  all  this  time  was  his 
proposed  University.  On  September  7,  1814,  he  submitted 
to  the  president  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  the  Albemarle 
Academy,  Peter  Carr,  a  lengthy  report,  incorporating  his 
educational  views — the  result  of  thirty  years  careful  reflection 
— plan  of  organization  for  the  Academy,  and  the  suggestion 
of  its  possible  expansion  into  a  college  with  professional 
schools,  which  as  a  complete  document,  defining  general  and 
technical  education,  classification  of  the  sciences,  and  profes- 
sional schools,  may  truthfully  be  claimed  to  represent  the 
"  literary  foundation  "  of  the  University  of  Virginia.  Three 
days  later  Mr.  Jefferson  forwarded  a  copy  of  this  report  to 
Dr.  Cooper,  asking  for  such  suggestions  as  might  be  available 
through  future  amendments,  and  implied  that  his  plan  was  ma- 
turing fast.  Peter  Carr  placed  his  copy,  along  with  the  peti- 
tion in  behalf  of  the  Academy  needing  legislative  sanction,  into 


90  UNIVERSITY    OF   VIRGINIA 

the  hands  of  a  legislator,  who  with  inexplicable  motive  with- 
held its  publicity  until  January  5,  1815,  when  Mr.  Jefferson 
could  refrain  no  longer  from  writing  his  loyal  co-worker,  Jo- 
seph C,  Cabell,  then  a  member  of  the  Senate:  "Could  the 
petition  which  the  Albemarle  Academy  addressed  to  our  Legis- 
lature have  succeeded  at  the  late  session,  a  little  aid  additional 
to  the  objects  of  that  would  have  enabled  us  to  have  here  im- 
mediately the  best  seminary  of  the  United  States.  I  do  not 
know  to  whom  Mr.  Carr  committed  the  petition  and  papers, 
but  I  have  seen  no  trace  of  their  having  been  offered.  Think- 
ing it  possible  you  may  not  have  seen  them,  I  send  for  your 
perusal  the  copies  I  retained  for  my  own  use.  They  consist 
of  letters  to  Mr.  Carr  and  Dr.  Cooper,  and  a  petition  of  the 
Academy  trustees,  requesting  a  change  in  the  name — to  Cen- 
tral College — in  the  number,  appointment,  succession,  duties 
and  powers  of  the  Visitors,  also  the  enactment  of  fixed  prin- 
ciples for  its  safe  government  and  administration/'  In  ad- 
dition the  Academy  desired  the  moneys  from  the  sale  of  the 
two  glebes,  and  from  the  Literary  Fund — that  established  in 
1810  for  the  encouragement  of  learning,  being  created  and 
increased  from  certain  escheats,  penalties  and  forfeitures,  and 
augmented,  at  the  suggestion  of  representative  Charles  Fen- 
ton  Mercer,  by  the  amount  of  the  Government's  indebtedness 
to  the  State  for  expenses  incurred  in  the  war  of  1812.  "  They 
are  long,  but  as  we  always  counted  on  you  as  the  main  pillar 
of  our  support,  we  shall  probably  return  to  the  charge  at  the 
next  session,  the  trouble  of  reading  them  will  come  upon  you, 
and  as  well  now  as  then.  In  addition  to  the  revenue  asked, 
if  we  could  obtain  a  loan  for  four  or  five  years  of  seven  or 
eight  thousand  dollars,  I  think  I  have  it  now  in  my  power  to 
obtain  three  of  the  ablest  characters  in  the  world  to  fill  the 
higher  professorships  of  what  in  the  plan  is  called  the  second 
or  general  grade  of  education ;  and  for  those  of  language  and 
mathematics,  a  part  of  the  same  grade,  able  professors  doubt- 
less could  also  be  readily  obtained.  With  these  characters  I 
should  not  be  afraid  to  say  that  the  circle  of  the  sciences  would 
be  more  profoundly  taught  here  than  in  any  institution  in  the 
United  States,  and  I  might  go  farther." 

There  seemed  to  be  considerable  opposition  to  so  much  legis- 
lation in  favor  of  the  new  institution — Central  College — then 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  91 

even  recognized  as  the  child  of  Mr.  Jefferson,  the  great  sup- 
posed believer  in  heterodox  religion,  the  true  sainted  apostle 
of  the  Republican  creed.  The  older  colleges  of  the  State — 
William  and  Mary,  Washington,  Hampden-Sidney,  etc. — were 
all,  as  elsewhere,  under  orthodox  regime,  and  dreaded  a  more 
liberal  thinking  competitor,  making  it  difficult  to  assuage 
their  staunch  supporters  and  his  political  opponents.  As  a 
result  the  act  passed,  February  14,  1816,  did  not  afford  all 
that  was  desired,  as  it  shared  none  of  the  Literary  Fund  ad- 
vantages, but  otherwise  conceded  about  what  was  hoped 
for.  Consequently  a  reorganization  under  the  new  name — 
Central  College — was  soon  effected,  by  the  Governor  (Nich- 
olas) appointing  a  distinguished  Board  of  Visitors,  consisting 
of  Mr.  Jefferson,  Madison,  Monroe,  Cabell,  Cocke,  Watson — 
selected  evidently  on  account  of  great  ability,  interest  in  edu- 
cation, Mr.  Jefferson's  preference,  and  geographical  conveni- 
ence, none  residing  beyond  twenty-five  miles  of  the  institution 
— a  half  day's  ride — except  Monroe,  then  President,  when 
temporarily  away  from  his  nearby  home,  "  Ashlawn,"  on  the 
west  side  of  Carter's  Mountain. 

At  their  first  legal  meeting,  held  at  Monticello,  May  5,  1817, 
all  present  except  Cabell  and  Watson,  a  lottery  plan  was  ap- 
proved, subscription  paper  prepared,  while  Mr.  Jefferson  re- 
ported the  purchase  from  John  Perry  of  two  hundred  acres 
of  suitable  land,  one  mile  west  of  Charlottesville,  for  the  sum 
of  fifteen  hundred  dollars,  and  submitted  tentative  plans  of  the 
proposed  buildings — those  that  now  exist  in  reality  as  the  Uni- 
versity of  Virginia — consisting  of  ten  distinct  two-storied 
pavilions  for  the  professors,  arranged  at  equal  distance  apart 
(about  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  feet)  on  the  longer  side  of 
a  rectangle,  and  connected  by  spans  of  ten  one-storied  dormi- 
tories for  the  students.  The  construction  was  to  be  of  brick 
and  stone — the  pavilions  to  contain  a  schoolroom  and  accom- 
modations for  the  professorial  family  (?),  the  dormitory 
rooms  of  sufficient  size  for  two  students — all  to  open  upon  a 
covered  colonnade,  suggestive  of  the  mediaeval  monastery,  or 
the  modern  academic  village.  As  the  plan  contemplated  low 
buildings  in  long  ranges,  the  funds  in  hand,  forty-five  thousand 
dollars,  could  at  once  be  turned  to"  a  beginning,  and  as  these 
increased,  construction  could  be  extended.  During  this  first 


92  UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA 

meeting  it  also  was  determined  to  erect  at  once  one  of  the 
pavilions  (fourth  from  Rotunda,  West  Lawn)  and  the  attached 
dormitories — -twenty  rooms,  ten  on  either  side — one  of  which 
the  writer  occupied  his  second  session.  Progress  was  so  sat- 
isfactory that  the  Board  of  Visitors,  as  an  entire  body,  at- 
tended the  laying  of  the  corner-stone  of  the  parent  building, 
October  6th,  an  event  accentuated  with  great  local  eclat  and 
masonic  honors.  At  a  preceding  meeting,  July  28th,  Dr.  Sam- 
uel Knox  had  been  appointed  professor  of  languages,  but 
having  declined,  the  Board,  on  the  day  following  the  dedicatory 
services,  elected  Dr.  Thomas  Cooper  professor  of  chemistry, 
etc.,  and  directed  two  additional  pavilions  with  attached  dor- 
mitories to  be  built.  Just  at  this  time  there  seemed  to  have 
developed  in  the  Legislature  a  very  strong — possibly  rival — 
interest  towards  advancing  all  grades  of  education  in  Vir- 
ginia. The  new  source  or  faction  was  headed  by  Cliarles 
Fenton  Mercer,  a  delegate  from  Loudoun,  a  Federalist,  a  man 
of  culture  and  travel,  who  had  drawn,  1811,  the  act,  "  To  pro- 
vide for  the  education  of  the  poor/'  and  now,  apparently  with- 
out any  knowledge  of  Mr.  Jefferson's  plan,  conceived  a  very 
broad  scheme  of  public  education,  to  be  aided  by  the  Literary 
Fund,  to  whose  corpus  large  additions  had  been  made  through 
his  energy  and  efforts.  He  now  proposed  the  following  reso- 
lution which  was  passed  by  the  Legislature,  February  24, 
1816:  "Be  if  resolved  by  the  General  Assembly,  that  the 
President  (Governor  Nicholas)  and  Directors  of  the  Literary 
Fund  be  requested  to  digest  and  report  to  the  next  General 
Assembly  a  system  of  Public  Education,  calculated  to  give  ef- 
fect to  the  appropriations  made  to  that  object  by  the  Legis- 
lature, heretofore,  and  during  the  present  session,  and  to  com- 
prehend in  such  a  system  the  establishment  of  one  University, 
to  be  called,  "  The  University  of  Virginia,"  and  such  additional 
Colleges,  Academies,  and  Schools  as  shall  diffuse  the  benefits 
of  education  throughout  the  Commonwealth;  and  such  rules 
for  the  government^flf  such  University,  Colleges,  Academies, 
and  Schools  as  shal^Bjxiuce  economy  in  the  expenditures  for 
the  establishment  an^fmaintenance,  good  order  and  discipline 
in  the  management  thereof." 

This  happened  to  be  the  first  legislative  sanction  for  the  es- 
tablishment of  a  University  of  Virginia,  and  two  days  after 


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UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  93 

its  enactment,  February  26th,  Cabell  wrote  Mr.  Jefferson :  "  I 
think  the  passage  of  these  two  measures — (i)  Mercer's  on 
education,  (2)  Increasing  Literary  Fund — unquestionably  to 
be  ascribed  in  a  great  degree  to  the  publication  in  the  Etiquirer, 
on  that  very  morning,  of  your  letter  to  Peter  Carr.  But  it  may 
be  asked,  why  inquire  of  the  President  and  Directors  of  the 
Literary  Fund  for  plans,  when  one  so  satisfactory  is  already 
before  the  public?  I  will  tell  you.  Appropriations  abstracted 
from  their  location  are -not  easily  obtained.  Should  the  next 
Assembly  sanction  the  scheme  of  an  university,  you  will  see  the 
Lexington  and  Staunton  interests  striving  to  draw  it  away 
from  Albemarle,  and  the  whole  western  delegation  will  threaten 
to  divide  the  State,  unless  this  institution  should  be  placed  be- 
yond the  (Blue)  Ridge.  Mr.  Mercer  will  be  an  advocate  for 
a  western  site;  the  Federalists  will  favor  Lexington,  but  I 
think  that  Central  College  will  triumph  over  them  all.  I  am 
pleased  to  think  Governor  Nicholas  will  be  in  office  at  the 
commencement  of  the  next  session  of  the  Assembly." 

In  accordance  with  the  resolution  of  February  24th,  Gov- 
ernor Nicholas,  desiring  to  make  a  creditable  report,  began  at 
once  collecting  necessary  data,  and  soon  applied  to  Mr.  Jeffer- 
son, the  recognized  authority  on  educational  matters,  for  advice 
and  information,  which  were  given  both  gladly  and  freely. 
Mr.  Jefferson  emphasized  the  close  resemblance  between  Mer- 
cer's scheme  and  his  own  bills  for  the  more  general  "  Diffusion 
of  Knowledge  "  reported  in  1776  and  1779,  and  for  his  detailed 
view  of  education,  professional  and  otherwise,  list  of  subjects, 
arrangement,  departments,  and  professorships  he  referred  him 
to  his  comprehensive  letter  to  Peter  Carr,  published  several 
months  before.  He  also  recommended  that  the  buildings  be 
arranged  as  proposed  for  Central  College — this  village  form 
being  preferable  on  account  of  fire,  health,  economy,  peace  and 
quiet.  Governor  Nicholas  thought  that  possibly  some  others 
outside  of  his  State  might  suggest  something  tangible  for  an 
educational  system  if  appealed  to,  consequently  addressed,  May 
30,  1816,  a  "  Circular  Letter  "  to  a  number  of  well-known 
educators — Dr.  Thomas  Cooper,  Rev.  Timothy  Dwight,  Dr. 
Samuel  Mitchell,  J.  A.  Smith,  President  Monroe,  etc. — all  of 
whom  gave  lengthy  and  painstaking  replies,  which  were  di- 
gested into  an  able  "  Report  of  the  President  and  Directors  of 


94  UNIVERSITY    OF   VIRGINIA 

the  Literary  Fund,"  and  presented  to  the  Legislature,  Decem- 
ber 6th.  Upon  this  Professor  Herbert  B.  Adams  makes  the 
following  comment :  "  If  Mr.  Jefferson  was  not  the  author 
of  this  entire  report,  his  ideas  pervade  it  from  beginning  to 
end,  and  as  Governor  Nicholas  sought  his  advice  before  all 
others,  just  so  he  gave  it  preference.  The  official  voice  is  the 
Governor's,  but  the  hand  is  Jefferson's." 

In  this  report  the  general  subject  was  subdivided  into  (i) 
Primary  Schools,  (2)  Academies,  (3)  an  University,  and  this 
system  was  based  upon  dividing  the  counties  into  townships, 
each  to  support  one  primary  school,  in  which  should  be  taught 
reading,  writing  and  arithmetic — the  Lancastrian  method  of 
teaching  being  recommended.  Boys  when  well-grounded  in 
these  will  be  prepared  to  enter  the  next  grade,  academy, 
teaching  Latin,  Greek,  French,  higher  arithmetic,  six  first 
books  of  Euclid,  algebra,  geography,  elements  of  astronomy, 
and  the  u,se  of  globes.  Finally  a  university,  "  comprehending 
in  its  teachings  the  whole  circle  of  the  arts  and  sciences,  ex- 
tending to  the  utmost  boundaries  of  human  knowledge.  The 
peculiar  conditions  of  Virginia  must  be  studied,  and  the  uni- 
versity adapted  to  the  needs  of  the  people;  it  should  have  a 
modest  beginning ;  centrally  and  healthfully  located ;  buildings 
paid  for  out  of  the  Literary  Fund;  fifteen  visitors  and  nine 
professors;  there  shall  be  educated,  boarded  and  clothed,  at 
the  public  expense  (Literary  Fund)  ten  of  the  most  deserving 
and  promising  young  men,  who  shall  remain  four  years  at  the 
University,  and  shall  serve  four  years  in  the  academy,  if  re- 
quired ;  there  shall  be  seven  fellowships — about  the  first  offered 
in  this  country — to  be  filled  out  of  the  most  learned  and  meri- 
torious graduates  of  the  University,  who  are  to  receive  salaries 
out  of  the  Literary  Fund,  and  teach  four  years  in  the  acade- 
my, if  required.  It  is  to  these  we  ought  to  look  for  our  supply 
of  teachers  and  professors,  by  which  service  to  the  youth  of  the 
country,  they  will  amply  repay  their  own  obligation  for  gratu- 
itous training.  This  will  create  a  corps  of  self-sustained  liter- 
ary men  able  to  devote  their  whole  time  to  science,  thereby 
enlarging  its  boundaries  and  infusing  generally  an  inspiration 
for  the  charms  of  literature  and  knowledge." 

The  report  was  destined  to  have  its  vicissitudes,  being  at 
once  referred  to  the  Committee  of  the  Whole,  while  the  reso- 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  95 

lutions,  after  receiving  ten  amendments,  were  ordered  by  Mer- 
cer laid  upon  the  table,  January  12,  1817,  and  upon  further 
amendment — including  a  series  of  colleges — were  presented, 
February  3rd,  as  a  bill,  a  Providing  for  the  establishment  of 
an  University."  The  Committee  of  Schools  and  Colleges  re- 
ported several  bills,  which,  not  being  acted  upon  at  a  late  hour 
of  the  session,  gave  Mercer  opportunity  to  hurriedly  prepare 
and  present  a  suitable  substitution,  leaving  out  the  site  of  the 
University,  that  passed  the  House,  February  i8th,  but  failed 
two  days  later  in  the  Senate,  by  a  tie  vote,  as  half  of  the  mem- 
bers were  absent,  thus  causing  to  be  deferred  for  two  years  the 
whole  educational  scheme.  However,  these  various  bills  per- 
taining to  education  were  ordered  by  the  Senate  to  be  printed 
in  pamphlet  form,  entitled  "  Sundry  Documents/'  for  general 
distribution  throughout  the  State,  in  order  that  the  public 
might  become  thoroughly  familiar  with  their  various  pro- 
visions. 


CHAPTER   V 

THOMAS  JEFFERSON — FATHER  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF 

VIRGINIA 

The  Mercer  bill  vs.  Mr.  Jefferson's;  Mercer  in  Congress;  Mr.  Jefferson's 
Educational  Bill  of  1817-1818;  first  report  of  Central  College  propos- 
ing its  conversion  into  the  University  of  Virginia;  Mr.  Jefferson's  final 
draft  and  trial ;  dreams  realized ;  difficulty  over  location ;  Rockfish 
Commission — its  report  to  Legislature ;  final  contest,  Mr.  Baldwin  of 
Augusta ;  First  Board  of  Visitors ;  Mr.  Jefferson  chosen  Rector ;  Uni- 
versity's architecture,  plans,  construction ;  Dr.  Thomas  Cooper's  oppo- 
sition, religious  apprehensions ;  selection  of  Ticknor  and  Bowditch ; 
buildings  advanced;  monetary  difficulties;  religious  doctrines;  Father 
of  our  Navy,  etc. 

THE  Mercer  Bill  although  similar  to  that  of  Mr.  Jefferson's 
had  some  notable  exceptions:  i,  The  Board  of  Public  In- 
struction was  authorized  to  accept  the  Anne  Smith  Academy, 
for  the  education  of  females,  and  to  provide  for  the  erection 
of  not  more  than  two  other  similar  institutions,  thereby  in- 
troduced female  education  at  the  public  expense.  2,  Four  col- 
leges were  proposed — Pendleton,  Wythe,  Henry,  Jefferson, 
and  the  three  already  existing,  William  and  Mary,  Washing- 
ton, Hampden-Sidney,  might  be  received  into  this  arrange- 
ment at  the  option  of  their  Trustees.  3,  The  Primary  Schools 
were  to  be  established  first,  Academies  second,  Colleges  third, 
and  the  University  last — then  only  if  sufficient  funds  remained 
after  completing  the  preceding.  These  and  several  minor  dif- 
ferences rendered  the  bill  in  Mr.  Jefferson's  opinion  decidedly 
objectionable — much  inferior  to  his  plan  of  establishing  Pri- 
mary Schools  without  taking  a  cent  from  the  Literary  Fund, 
leaving  it  for  founding  Academies  (Colleges)  in  every  district 
of  eighty  miles  square,  and  finally  an  University  centrally  lo- 
cated. He  further  believed  that  unless  something  less  extrava- 
gant be  devised,  the  whole  undertaking  would  fail,  as  the 
Primary  Schools  alone  would  exhaust  the  entire  funds,  conse- 
quently he  set  himself  again  at  work  to  produce  a  more  ac- 
ceptable single  bill  for  the  next  session  of  the  Legislature. 

96 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  97 

Mercer  had  now  been  elected  to  Congress,  where  he  re- 
mained twenty-one  years,  so  he  was  out  of  the  way,  and  like- 
wise, as  it  proved,  was  his  bill.  After  a  slow  and  painful 
siege  of  writing  Mr.  Jefferson  finished  the  so-called,  "  Jeffer- 
son's Educational  Bill  of  1817-1818,"  which  was  forwarded, 
October  24,  1817,  to  Cabell  with  these  concluding  words :  "  I 
send  you  the  result  brought  into  a  single  bill,  lest  by  bringing 
it  on  by  detachments  some  of  the  parts  might  be  lost."  This 
bill  abstracted  largely  from  the  plan  enunciated  in  his  compre- 
hensive letter  to  Peter  Carr,  September  7,  1814 — dividing  the 
State  into  nine  collegiate  districts,  each  to  have  a  college  with 
two  professors,  paid  from  the  Literary  Fund,  and  teaching 
Latin,  Greek,  French,  Spanish,  Italian,  German,  English  gram- 
mar, geography,  higher  arithmetic,  mensuration  of  land,  use 
of  globes,  and  the  ordinary  elements  of  navigation;  also  an 
University  "  in  a  central  and  healthy  part  of  the  State/'  whose 
location  should  be  determined  by  a  board  of  eight  visitors, 
subject  to  approval  by  the  Board  of  Public  Instruction,  unless 
the  State  should  decide  to  accept  the  present  lands,  buildings, 
property,  and  rights  of  Central  College,  whenever  its  board  of 
visitors  should  authorize  a  transfer  to  the  Board  of  Public 
Instruction,  for  the  purposes  of  an  University.  In  this  institu- 
tion should  be  taught  history  and  geography — ancient  and 
modern — natural  philosophy,  agriculture,  chemistry,  theories 
of  medicine,  anatomy,  zoology,  botany,  mineralogy,  geology, 
mathematics — pure  and  mixed — military  and  naval  science, 
ideology,  ethics,  law  of  nature  and  nations,  law — municipal 
and  foreign — science  of  civil  government  and  political  econ- 
omy, languages,  rhetoric,  belles-letters,  and  the  fine  arts  gen- 
erally— all  distributed  to  not  more  than  ten  professors." 

In  order  to  pave  the  way  for  this  bill  Mr.  Jefferson  sub- 
mitted shortly  thereafter,  January  6,  1818,  to  the  speaker  of 
the  House  of  Delegates  the  first  report  of  the  Trustees  of 
Central  College,  in  which  he  recounted  in  detail  its  plans, 
progress  and  prospects,  taking  care  to  emphasize  "  the  want 
of  a  seminary  of  general  science  in  a  healthy  part  of  the  State, 
and  nearly  central  to  its  population,  for  whose  development  the 
resources  at  the  command  of  the  Legislature  would  alone  be 
adequate.  By  the  Mercer  bill  of  the  last  session,  passed  by  one 
branch  and  printed  by  the  other,  for  public  consideration,  a 


98  UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA 

disposition  appears  to  go  into  a  system  of  general  education, 
of  which  a  single  University  for  the  use  of  the  whole  State  is 
to  be  a  component  part.  But  observing  that  in  the  bill  pre- 
sented to  public  consideration  a  combination  of  private  and 
public  contributions  has  been  contemplated,  and  considering 
such  an  incorporation  as  completely  fulfilling  the  view  of  our 
institution,  we  undertake  to  declare  that  if  the  Legislature 
shall  think  proper  to  proceed  to  the  establishment  of  an  Uni- 
versity, and  to  adopt  for  its  location  the  site  of  the  Central 
College,  we  are  so  certain  of  the  approbation  of  those  for 
whom  we  act,  that  we  may  give  safe  assurances  of  the  ready 
transfer  to  the  State  of  all  the  property  and  rights  of  the  Cen- 
tral College,  in  possession  or  in  action,  towards  the  establish- 
ment of  such  an  University,  and  under  such  laws  and  provi- 
sions as  the  Legislature  shall  be  pleased  to  establish ;  and  that 
we  ourselves  shall  be  ready  to  deliver  over  our  charge  to  such 
successors,  or  such  other  organization,  as  the  Legislature  shall 
be  pleased  to  ordain,  and  with  increased  confidence  of  its  suc- 
cess under  their  care." 

This  was  the  first  intimation,  at  least  official  proposal,  to 
convert  Central  College  into  the  University  of  Virginia,  a 
proposition  to  thoughtful  persons  savoring  of  much  reason  and 
advantage,  as  that  institution  was  well-located,  well-endowed 
and  well-underway,  while  its  educational  scope  was  to  be  of  an 
university  character — that  which  the  State  so  thoroughly 
needed  and  desired.  It  would  be  far  better,  surely  more  eco- 
nomical, to  promote  and  sustain  this  than  to  establish  another 
de  novo,  only  to  become  a  strong  and  deadly  rival — a  fact  that 
Mr.  Jefferson  fully  realized,  and  could  not  believe  his  people 
would  think  otherwise  when  enlightened  upon  the  conditions — 
and  yet  he  was  conscious  of  needed  diplomacy  that  his  hopes 
might  succeed. 

He  wrote  to  Cabell,  December  18,  1817 :  "I  think  you  had 
better  keep  back  the  general  plan  till  this  report  is  made,  as 
I  am  persuaded  it  will  give  a  lift  to  that.  Pray  drop  me  a  line 
when  any  vote  is  passed  which  furnishes  an  indication  of  the 
success  or  failure  of  the  general  plan.  I  have  only  this  single 
anxiety  in  the  world.  It  is  a  bantling  of  forty  years'  birth 
and  nursing,  and  if  I  can  once  see  it  on  its  legs,  I  will  sing 
with  sincerity  and  pleasure  my  nune  dimittas" 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  99 

Mr.  Jefferson  was  now  seventy-five  years  of  age,  and  though 
all  his  efforts  in  the  interest  of  local  "  Diffusion  of  Knowl- 
edge," extending  over  forty  years,  had  been  apparently  with- 
out results,  yet  he  was  enthused  to  a  high  degree  in  making 
one  more  final  trial.  He  wrote  Cabell,  December  3ist:  "I 
have  this  morning  sent  to  Mr.  Madison  a  draft  of  the  report 
I  promised  you.  When  returned,  I  shall  have  to  make  out  a 
fair  copy  and  send  it  the  round  for  signature.  You  may, 
therefore,  expect  it  about  the  last  of  next  week."  This  report 
was  placed  in  the  hands  of  the  Speaker,  January  6,  1818,  with 
the  request  that  it  be  communicated  to  the  House  in  such  form 
as  he  thought  best.  Mr.  Jefferson  anxiously  awaited  a  knowl- 
edge of  the  impression  it  made  upon  the  Legislature — "  be- 
cause that  shows  how  near  we  are  to  the  accomplishment  of  a 
good  college,  one  that  cannot  but  be  thought  of  some  value 
to  the  State — and  the  urgency  of  their  enabling  us  to  com- 
plete it." 

Cabell  wrote  Mr.  Jefferson,  January  5,  1818:  "It  grieves 
me  to  tell  you  that  I  think  our  prospects  are  by  no  means 
flattering  in  the  General  Assembly.  I  shall  not  relax  my 
small  exertions  in  this  noble  cause.  I  hunt  assiduously  around 
me  for  every  suggestion  towards  lessening  the  difficulties  on 
the  branch  of  the  primary  schools.  The  hostile  interests  to 
Central  College — the  Cincinnati  Society,  mostly  Federalists, 
and  the  Lexington  people  both  favor  Washington  College; 
the  Staunton  people,  who  have  not  only  selected  the  site  in 
their  midst  for  the  University,  but  would  have  the  capital 
removed  there  from  Richmond — have  been  constantly  at  work 
producing  some  effect  on  the  House  of  Delegates,  now  much 
altered  for  the  worse,  with  which  I  believe  nothing  can  be 
done.  Again,  the  discordant  opinions  about  the  primary 
schools  seem  irreconcilable.  Efforts  have  been,  and  doubtless 
will  be  made  to  convert  this  subject  into  a  question  between 
the  east  and  west  side  of  the  Blue  Ridge.  Judge  Roane,  Col. 
Nicholas  and  others  disapprove  of  your  plan  of  an  assessment 
on  the  wards,  believing  the  moneys  should  come  out  of  the 
Literary  Fund,  but  that  your  mode  of  administration  should 
be  kept  up." 

Mr.  Jefferson  wrote  Cabell,  January  I4th :  "  A  system  of 
general  instruction  which  shall  reach  every  description  of  our 


ioo  UNIVERSITY    OF   VIRGINIA 

citizens,  from  the  richest  to  the  poorest,  as  it  was  the  earliest, 
so  will  it  be  the  latest  of  all  the  public  concerns  in  which  I 
shall  permit  myself  to  take  an  interest.  Nor  am  I  tenacious  of 
the  form  in  which  it  shall  be  introduced.  Be  that  what  it 
may,  our  descendants  will  be  as  wise  as  we  are,  and  will  know 
how  to  amend  and  amend  until  it  shall  suit  their  circum- 
stances. Give  it  to  us,  then,  in  any  shape,  and  receive  for 
the  inestimable  boon  the  thanks^of  the  young,  and  the  bless- 
ings of  the  old,  who  are  past  all  other  services  but  prayers  for 
the  prosperity  of  their  country  and  blessings  to  those  who 
promote  it."  This  letter  Cabell  had  published  in  the  Rich- 
mond Enquirer,  February  loth,  and  while  the  "  enlightened 
few  "  read  it  with  sympathy  and  fervor,  yet  it  failed  to  attract 
many  legislators  to  the  support  of  the  bill.  The  House  of 
Delegates  really  preferred  a  small  appropriation  for  educating 
the  poor  from  the  Literary  Fund,  and  the  rest  of  it  devoted 
to  paying  the  State's  debts.  It  rose,  however,  to  the  demands 
of  the  occasion,  by  accepting  a  compromise  between  the  high- 
est and  lowest  forms  of  education — Hill's  substitute  for  Mr. 
Jefferson's  bill. 

On  January  22nd,  Cabell  wrote  Mr.  Jefferson :  "  I  have 
read  the  bill  and  am  greatly  disappointed.  Indeed,  sir,  the 
prospect  before  us  is  dreary."  Three  weeks  later  he  wrote  in 
a  more  cheerful  strain :  "  When  the  school  bill  came  up  in 
the  Senate  we  engrafted  upon  it  a  provision  for  an  University, 
and  it  has  passed,  February  2ist,  in  the  form  of  the  enclosed 
with  one  small  exception.  The  bill  gives  forty-five  thousand 
dollars  per  annum  to  the  poor,  and  fifteen  thousand  to  the 
University — this  latter  amount  being  continued  for  nearly 
sixty  years  as  the  State's  sole  annuity.  The  Governor  and 
Council  shall  choose  one  commissioner  from  each  Senatorial 
District  in  the  State,  who,  as  a  body,  shall  meet  at  Rockfish 
Gap,  August  i,  1818,  and  sojourn  from  place  to  place  and 
time  to  time;  that  they  shall  report  to  the  next  Assembly  the 
best  site,  plan,  etc.,  and  the  next  Assembly  will  have  the  whole 
subject  in  their  power.  We  have  fifteen  districts  (out  of  the 
possible  twenty-four)  on  this  side  of  the  Ridge,  and  I  think 
we  are  safe  in  the  hands  of  the  Executive.  The  appointment 
of  the  commissioners  is  now  a  subject  of  infinite  importance  to 
us,  The  Executive,  I  think,  will  do  us  justice.  Our  policy 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  101 

is  to  invest  all  our  funds  (Central  College)  in  buildings,  and 
get  them  as  far  advanced  by  August  as  possible."  Truly  Mr. 
Jefferson  needed  no  reminder  for  this,  as  he  had  time  and 
again  expressed  the  same  aim — to  make  the  greatest  progress, 
then  have  the  Legislature  adopt  and  further  it. 

The  University  of  Virginia  was  no  longer  a  dream — its 
existence  had  been  decided  upon  definitely,  but  where  it  should 
exist  was  still,  as  it  always  had  been  the  disturbing  and  un- 
settled question — one  that  Mr.  Jefferson  determined  should 
be  influenced  towards  his  choice  location,  Central  College, 
with  all  the  reason,  logic  and  personal  magnetism  he  pos- 
sessed. The  contest  was  to  be  with  the  Commissioners  and 
also  the  next  Legislature,  and  in  both  assemblies  Mr.  Jeffer- 
son proposed  to  meet  manfully  the  pending  issue.  Of  the 
twenty-four  commissioners  only  three  were  absent  from  the 
meeting,  August  ist,  at  the  tavern  in  Rockfish  Gap — that 
between  Albemarle  and  Augusta  counties,  through  which  the 
turnpike  to  the  West  passes — now  the  summer  resort,  "  Afton 
or  Mountain  Top." 

Besides  the  President  of  the  United  States,  Mr.  Monroe, 
and  his  two  predecessors,  Mr.  Jefferson  and  Madison,  nearly 
all  the  others  were  distinguished  men — judges,  statesmen, 
lawyers,  etc. — "  yet  it  was  remarked  by  the  lookers-on,  that 
Mr.  Jefferson  was  the  principal  object  of  regard  both  to  the 
members  and  spectators;  that  he  seemed  to  be  the  chief  mover 
of  the  body — the  soul  that  animated  it;  and  some  who  were 
present,  struck  by  these  manifestations  of  deference,  conceived 
a  more  exalted  idea  of  him  on  this  simple  and  unpretending 
occasion  than  they  had  ever  previously  entertained."  He  was 
elected  unanimously  President  of  the  meeting,  and,  after  some 
discussion,  Chairman  of  a  Committee  of  six,  tp  report  on  all 
the  duties  assigned  the  Commission  by  the  Leg'i^tfifce/  except  »  ;j 
that  of  the  site — that  being  left  to  the  legislative  fro'dyl  *HoW"-^ 
ever,  at  the  same  time  this  point  was  discuss^  lib$f&8fg  '£$*$ '  *> 
of  the  three  places  proposed,  Lexington,  StauritdA,  'Central'  • 
College,  being  recognized  as  located  in  equally  healthy  and 
fertile  districts,  but  Mr.  Jefferson  added  much  weight  to  his 
favorite,  by  exhibiting  "  an  imposing  list  of  octogenarians," 
and  by  demonstrating  with  figures  and  charts  its  approximate 
centrality  in  territory  and  white  population. 


102  UNIVERSITY    OF   VIRGINIA 

Although  absolutely  fair  in  his  bearings,  statements  and 
conclusions  some  criticism  followed  the  manner  of  drawing 
his  transverse  lines  so  as  to  intersect  at  Charlottesville — the 
beginning  of  his  westerly  line  being  the  mouth  of  the  Chesa- 
peake Bay,  a  point  much  nearer  the  southern  than  the  northern 
state  boundary — but  he  defended  his  position  by  the  state- 
ment :  "  the  greatest  part  of  what  is  north  is  water."  This 
line  was  not  drawn  due  west,  as  the  northern  state  boundary 
was  north  of  northwest,  but  discreetly  balancing  his  geog- 
raphy, followed  the  line  of  "  equal  division  of  the  population." 
For  his  north  and  south  line  of  population,  he  paralleled  the 
Blue  Ridge,  running  southwest  and  northeast.  Mr.  Jefferson 
afterwards  affirmed :  "  Run  your  lines  in  whatever  direction 
you  please,  they  will  pass  close  to  Charlottesville."  Be  that 
as  it  may,  he  apparently  had  little  trouble  in  winning  the  As- 
sembly at  Rockfish  Gap,  for  when  the  vote  was  taken,  sixteen 
stood  for  Central  College,  three  for  Lexington,  and  two  for 
Staunton — an  expression  of  opinion  which  the  Committee  was 
instructed  to  include  in  the  report  unanimously  adopted,  Au- 
gust 3rd. 

The  following  day  two  copies  were  signed  by  the  entire 
Commission  present,  in  readiness  for  the  Speakers  of  the 
House  and  Senate.  The  report  as  an  entirety  was  lengthy, 
elaborate  and  comprehensive,  being  prepared  with  careful 
thought,  no  doubt  by  Mr.  Jefferson,  prior  to  the  meeting.  It 
defined  the  object  of  primary  and  higher  education,  the  rela- 
tion of  the  State  to  science,  the  relation  of  education  to  morals 
and  religion,  the  advantage  of  modern  languages  and  Anglo- 
Saxon,  the  necessity  of  bodily  exercise  and  manual  training, 
and  finally  enumerated  the  many  objects  to  be  taught  in  a 
masterly  manner,  .arranged  for  ten  professors. 
'.*::*At  th'e/lieginning  of  the  next  Legislative  session,  Cabell 
w'cts  in  RichmoncJ,  a&.usual,  attending  to  his  Senatorial  duties, 
'.ehieflyr't^c^^J^aiping  to  the  University.  Mr.  Jefferson 
"fofSva'rded'to  him  the  report,  November  2oth,  stating  it  the 
opinion  of  the  Commissioners,  "  that  it  should  be  delivered 
to  each  speaker  in  the  chair  on  the  second  morning  of  the 
session." 

In  a  letter  to  Mr.  Jefferson,  December  8th,  Cabell  wrote: 
"  The  report  was  read,  and  received  with  great  attention  in 


.8 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  103 

both  the  Houses,  and  a  resolution  to  print  a  number  of  copies 
passed  each  House.  The  ability  and  value  of  the  report  I  am 
informed  are  universally  admitted.  It  was  referred  in  the 
lower  house  to  a  select  committee,  and  the  speaker  is  friendly 
to  the  measure.  A  portion  of  the  Assembly  will  be  opposed 
to  the  whole  subject,  and  how  far  a  combination  between  this 
part  and  the  Lexington  interest  may  jeopardize  the  measure, 
I  cannot  now  determine.  All  that  I  can  now  positively  affirm 
is,  that  the  clouds  seem  to  be  scattering,  and  the  prospect  to 
smile." 

Just  as  was  apprehended  and  feared,  opposition  to  Mr.  Jef- 
ferson's university  scheme  did  not  abate  in  the  Legislature,  as 
shown  by  Cabell's  letter,  December  24th :  "  There  is  a  de- 
cided majority  of  the  Committee  in  favor  of  the  Central  Col- 
lege; but  the  Eastern  members  are  less  attentive  than  the 
Western.  The  friends  of  Lexington  wish  to  have  the  clause 
of  location  reported  with  a  blank,  discredit  your  calculations, 
seek  to  reinforce  their  claims,  so  that  the  hostile  interests  are 
daily  acquiring  new  force  by  intrigue  and  management.  The 
party  opposed  altogether  to  the  University  is  growing  so 
rapidly  we  have  just  grounds  to  fear  a  total  failure  of  the 
measure."  Some  believed  the  Literary  Fund  was  to  be  di- 
verted from  its  original  object — to  educate  the  poor,  and  that 
the  rich  were  to  receive  its  benefits.  Others  thought  Char- 
lottesville  too  small  for  a  university  town,  neither  attracting 
nor  furnishing  polished  society  for  either  professors  or  stu- 
dents, and  incapable  of  supplying  accommodations  and  police 
authority  for  governing  a  large  number  of  young  men.  The 
friends  of  William  and  Mary  College  demanded  five  thousand 
dollars  annually  for  their  concurrence — that  which  Cabell 
spurned,  preferring  to  lose  the  bill,  and,  in  spite  of  precarious 
health,  braved  all  the  objections,  by  not  relinquishing  in  the 
least  his  efforts  towards  quieting  the  turbulent  waters  and 
converting  legislators  to  his  way  of  thinking.  As  he  put  it: 
"  I  passed  the  night  in  watchful  reflection  and  the  day  in 
ceaseless  activity."  He  wrote  to  liberal  minded  men  in  the 
belligerent  districts  importuning  influence  upon  their  repre- 
sentatives; prepared  letters  for  the  Enquirer,  calculated  to 
move  public  sentiment  in  favor  of  his  cause;  published  Mr. 
Jefferson's  able  defense  and  explanation  of  the  true  center  of 


io4  UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA 

population,  and  by  skilful  tactics  at  last  won  over  the  majority 
to  his  opinion.  Early  in  January,  1819,  he  wrote  Mr.  Jeffer- 
son :  "  Happily  sir,  a  counter-current  has  been  produced,  and 
I  am  now  confident  of  ultimate  success.  Our  friends  are  at 
last  aroused,  and  are  as  ardent  as  you  could  desire,  so  that 
our  policy  now  is  to  keep  back  the  vote  as  long  as  possible." 
Again  he  wrote,  January  i8th:  "Grateful,  truly  grateful  is 
it  to  my  heart,  to  be  able  to  announce  to  you  the  result  of  this 
day's  proceedings  in  the  House  of  Delegates.  In  Committee 
of  the  Whole  the  question  was  taken,  after  an  elaborate  dis- 
cussion, on  the  motion  to  strike  the  Central  College  from  the 
bill,  and  was  lost  by  a  vote  of  114  to  69.  This  is  a  decisive 
victory."  Just  then  one  of  the  western  opponents,  Baldwin 
of  Augusta,  arose  to  the  occasion,  and  expressed  eloquently : 
"  I  have  supported  Staunton  as  long  as  there  was  any  hope  of 
success,  but  now  I  implore  this  body  to  sacrifice  all  local  preju- 
dice and  sectional  feeling,  in  order  to  have  unanimity  of  action 
— let  us  unite  with  the  majority  in  support  of  the  bill."  And 
as  he  wished,  so  it  was — an  overwhelming  victory  for  Mr. 
Jefferson's  cause.  Cabell  had  been  suffering  two  days  before 
from  hemorrhage  of  the  lungs,  "  brought  on  by  exposure  to 
bad  weather  and  loss  of  sleep,"  and  left  the  House  just  prior 
to  the  final  vote  in  order,  "  to  avoid  the  shock  of  feeling  which 
I  should  have  been  compelled  to  sustain.  But  I  am  told  the 
scene  was  truly  affecting.  A  great  part  of  the  House  was  in 
tears,  and,  on  the  rising  of  the  House,  the  Eastern  members 
hovered  around  Mr.  Baldwin — some  shook  him  by  the  hand, 
others  solicited  an  introduction.  Such  magnanimity  in  a  de- 
feated adversary  excited  universal  applause.  The  discussion 
must  have  produced  a  considerable  effect."  In  the  Senate  the 
bill  was  known  to  be  safe,  where  it  passed  by  a  vote  of  22  to 
i,  January  25th,  thus  chartering  the  University  of  Virginia 
and  adopting  Central  College  as  her  site.  Her  seal — 
"  Minerva  enrobed  in  her  peplus  and  characteristic  habili- 
ments as  inventress  and  protectress  of  the  arts  " — bears  this 
birth  year,  1819,  but  six  long,  perplexing  years  elapsed  before 
she  was  opened  formally  (1825)  to  the  reception  of  students. 
Although  in  this  great  struggle  Mr.  Jefferson  was  the 
power  behind  the  throne,  yet  Cabell  had  been  the  watchdog 
and  fighter — better  pacifier — -who  could  have  accomplished 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  105 

alone  much  that  he  did,  but  Mr.  Jefferson  nothing.  At  the 
same  time  Cabell  even  was  powerless  without  the  hearty  co- 
operation of  the  many — indeed  denied  the  timely  voice  of  the 
intrepid  Baldwin,  who  can  predict  the  fate  of  the  almost  for- 
lorn hope?  Cabell  graciously  paid  tribute  to  a  few  of  those 
worthies — Brooke,  Brockenbrough,  Cabell,  Gilmore,  Green, 
Hoomes,  Nicholas,  Nicholson,  Minor,  Pannill,  Rice,  Roane, 
Ritchie,  Scott,  Slaughter,  Stanard,  Taliaferro,  Taylor,  etc. — 
but  scores  of  others  unnamed,  came  in  for  a  large  share  of  the 
unbounded  credit.  Before  the  great  world  the  line  has  to  be 
drawn  somewhere,  as  in  martial  battles — simply  with  Xeno- 
phen,  Wellington,  Napoleon,  Washington,  irrespective  of  pos- 
sibly as  large  or  larger  factors — so  here  we  must  attribute 
results  to  Mr.  Jefferson  and  Cabell — that  which,  however,  the 
great  majority  accepts  as  alone  the  work  of  Mr.  Jefferson. 

Mr.  Jefferson  congratulated  Cabell,  January  28th,  on  the 
passage  of  the  bill,  expressed  concern  about  the  funds  needed 
at  once  for  furthering  the  construction  of  buildings,  and  in- 
quired, "  If  the  Legislature  would  not  give  the  University 
the  derelict  portions  offered  to  the  pauper  schools  and  not  ac- 
cepted by  them,"  the  unclaimed  dividends  of  which  would  en- 
able the  University  "  to  complete  its  buildings,  and  procure 
its  apparatus,  library,  etc."  Cabell  in  his  reply,  February  4th, 
disapproved  of  mentioning  at  that  session  of  the  Legislature 
anything  more  pertaining  to  the  University,  as  he  and  many 
others  believed  it  best  to  rest  quietly  on  what  had  been  accom- 
plished, mollify  the  asperities  of  the  contest,  and  thereby 
gather  good  friends  and  opinions  for  the  institution.  The 
financial  side  will  stand  a  much  better  show  next  session.  "  Let 
well  enough  alone ;  we  have  got  possession  of  the  ground,  and 
it  will  never  be  taken  from  us." 

The  first  Board  of  Visitors  of  the  University  of  Virginia — 
Jefferson,  Madison,  Cabell,  Cocke,  Breckenridge,  Johnson, 
Taylor — met  March  29th,  when  Dr.  Thomas  Cooper  was  ap- 
pointed professor  of  chemistry,  mineralogy  and  natural  philos- 
ophy, and  the  purchase  of  additional  land  from  John  Perry  was 
decided  upon;  Mr.  Jefferson  was  chosen  Rector — a  position 
retained  until  death — and  owing  to  close  identity  with  the 
cause,  ambition  for  early  completion,  general  information, 
broad  experience,  familiarity  with  education,  fondness  for  the 


106  UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA 

work  and  proximity  thereto,  his  associates  gladly  entrusted  to 
him  practically  the  entire  management  of  affairs.  He  from  now 
on  was  the  University's  architect,  constructor,  supervisor,  in- 
spector and  administrator — giving  his  unstinted  time  in  look- 
ing after  the  minutest  details.  If  he  had  no  desire  for  "  build- 
ing better  than  he  knew,"  he  certainly  had  a  pride  in  pro- 
ducing the  best  he  knew — something  beyond  that  already  ex- 
isting in  this  country,  possibly  the  world.  He  realized  that 
"  Virginians  would  never  be  pleased  with  anything  on  a  small 
scale/'  that  here  he  must  be  equal  to  expectations,  that  his  in- 
stitution must  be  a  source  of  attraction  to  professors,  students, 
visitors,  far  and  near,  and  by  "  the  extent  and  splendor  of 
the  establishment  "  win  for  it,  as  actually  was  the  case,  staunch 
friends  and  ardent  supporters.  At  the  very  outset,  with  a  keen 
sense  of  the  sublime  and  beautiful,  he  determined  to  carry  into 
practice  there  what  this  later  day  Municipal  Art  Societies  are 
endeavoring  wisely  to  impress  upon  communities — the  value 
of  good  object  lessons  for  refining  taste  and  character — that 
the  various  pavilions  should  present  the  several  types  of 
architecture,  and  in  order  that  the  Doric,  Ionic,  and  Corinthian 
capitals  to  the  stately  columns  might  have  their  imposing 
place,  Italian  stone  cutters  were  brought  over  for  the  service, 
but,  owing  to  the  indifferent  Virginia  marble,  they  returned 
and  carved  seventeen  in  Italy  from  its  excellent  white  marble, 
which  to-day  remain  as  originally  placed,  being  among  the 
most  unique  and  instructive  attractions  to  both  young  and  old 
at  the  University. 

The  drawings  and  plans  submitted  by  Mr.  Jefferson  met  the 
approval  of  the  Visitors,  with  the  exception  of  Cabell,  who, 
also  possessing  a  resourceful  mind  from  home  and  foreign 
training,  did  not  hesitate  to  make  such  suggestions  thereto 
as  seemed  to  him  wise  and  best.  Thus  he  believed  that  some 
other  architectural  style  should  be  adopted  for  the  hotels  and 
ranges,  than  that  selected  for  the  pavilions  and  lawns;  that 
the  flat  roofs  would  leak  and  require  renewal  every  six  years; 
that  the  classroom  in  each  pavilion — now  the  professor's  par- 
lors— should  be  abandoned  in  favor  of  a  central  recitation 
building  having  rooms  of  varying  capacity  to  suit  different 
size  classes,  thereby  releasing  the  pavilions  to  the  sole  use  of 
the  professors'  families.  He  did  not  agree  with  Mr.  Jefferson 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  107 

that  the  professors  would  all  be,  and  ever  remain,  unmarried, 
like  the  English  college  tutors,  and  need  only  rooms  for  the 
literary  side  of  life.  In  this  he  was  not  mistaken,  and  in  some 
of  the  other  directions  his  opinions  modified  and  partly  pre- 
vailed, giving  a  decided  shade  to  final  results.  For  the  con- 
struction of  this  beautiful  mental  creation  Mr.  Jefferson  sadly 
realized  the  want  of  the  one  great  essential — money — that 
which  must  have  an  early  vision,  provided  the  University  was 
to  materialize  in  his  day.  Despite  funds  and  equipment  he  at 
first  believed  the  institution  might  begin  its  "  Diffusion  of 
Knowledge"  in  a  modest  way  that  year  (1819) — an  opinion 
he  soon  abandoned  as  absolutely  impractical — consequently 
at  the  first  meeting  of  the  Visitors  it  was  determined  to  push 
forward  the  work  upon  the  pavilions  and  dormitories  until  all 
of  the  then  available  means  were  exhausted. 

Cabell  was  still  in  the  Senate  and  happily  was  in  perfect 
accord  with  Mr.  Jefferson  upon  the  financial  policy  to  be 
adopted  for  promoting  and  maintaining  the  University.  They 
decided  the  first  effort  should  be  directed  towards  getting  spe- 
cific appropriations  from  the  Legislature,  but  failing  in  that, 
then  endeavor  to  secure  its  sanction  for  borrowing  as  much 
as  possible  of  the  Literary  Fund,  paying  interest  thereon  from 
the  University's  annual  endowment  of  fifteen  thousand  dollars. 
Mr.  Jefferson  communicated  to  Cabell,  January  22,  1820,  the 
need  of  eighty  thousand  dollars  for  completing  the  proposed 
buildings,  and  the  House  of  Delegates  at  once  rejected  a  bill 
for  this,  and  another  for  half  the  amount,  but  passed  one, 
February  24th,  allowing  the  use  of  sixty  thousand  dollars  of 
the  Literary  Fund,  under  the  restrictions  already  suggested. 
The  appointment  of  Dr.  Thomas  Cooper,  October  7,  1817, 
professor  in  Central  College — duties  to  be  assumed  only  when 
the  institution  was  equipped  sufficiently — gave  rise,  as  the 
months  rolled  by,  to  much  unfavorable  comment,  but  when  it 
became  generally  known  that  he  was  to  be  retained  in  the 
University  under  similar  conditions  criticism  grew  pronounced 
and  defiant.  Mr.  Jefferson,  August  22,  1813,  wrote  Adams: 
"  The  fate  of  my  letter  to  Priestley,  after  his  death,  was  a 
warning  to  me  on  that  of  Dr.  Rush;  and  at  my  request,  his 
family  were  so  kind  as  to  quiet  me  by  returning  my  original 
letter  and  syllabus.  By  this  you  will  be  sensible  how  much 


io8  UNIVERSITY    OF   VIRGINIA 

interest  I  take  in  keeping  myself  clear  of  religious  disputes  be- 
fore the  public;  and  especially  of  seeing  my  syllabus  disem- 
bowelled by  the  Aruspices  of  the  modern  Paganism.  Yet  I 
enclose  it  to  you  with  entire  confidence,  free  to  be  perused  by 
yourself  and  Mrs.  Adams,  but  by  no  one  else;  and  to  be  re- 
turned to  me.  You  are  right  in  supposing,  that  I  had  not 
read  much  of  Priestley's  '  Predestination/  his  no-soul  system, 
or  his  controversy  with  Horsley.  But  I  have  read  his  '  Cor- 
ruptions of  Christianity/  and  '  Early  Opinions  of  Jesus/ 
over  and  over  again;  and  I  rest  on  them,  and  on  Middleton's 
writings,  especially  his  letters  from  Rome,  and  to  Waterland, 
as  the  basis  of  my  own  faith.  These  writings  have  never  been 
answered,  nor  can  be  answered  by  quoting  historical  proofs, 
as  they  have  done.  For  these  facts,  therefore,  I  cling  to  their 
learning,  so  much  superior  to  my  own."  To  this  might  well 
be  added  here  what  another  eminent  writer  has  said  pertinent 
to  this  subject :  "  There  would  be  much  less  obscurity  and 
misunderstanding  about  Mr.  Jefferson's  religious  views  if  peo- 
ple would  take  him  at  his  word  and  in  the  light  of  his  relations 
to  Priestley  and  Cooper.  All  three  were  Unitarians."  No 
institution  can  defy  the  universal  denunciation  of  the  clergy 
of  its  State,  and  least  of  all  a  new  one,  like  the  University, 
whose  creation  had  suffered  already  such  cantankerous  senti- 
ments as  to  embarrass  its  promoters.  Under  the  circumstances 
there  certainly  was  only  one  alternative — to  accept,  as  the  Visi- 
tors did,  Dr.  Cooper's  resignation,  tendered  in  full  knowledge 
of  the  prevailing  criticism  and  in  the  following  spirit :  "  I  re- 
gret the  storm  that  has  been  raised  on  my  account,  for  it  has 
separated  me  from  many  fond  hopes  and  wishes.  Whatever 
my  religious  creed  may  be,  and  perhaps  I  do  not  exactly  know 
it  myself,  it  is  pleasure  to  reflect  that  my  conduct  has  not 
brought,  and  is  not  likely  to  bring,  discredit  to  my  friends. 
Wherever  I  have  been,  it  has  been  my  good  fortune  to  meet 
with,  or  to  make  ardent  and  affectionate  friends.  I  feel  per- 
suaded I  should  have  met  with  the  same  lot  in  Virginia  had 
it  been  my  chance  to  have  settled  there,  as  I  had  hoped  and 
expected,  for  I  think  my  course  of  conduct  is  sufficiently  ha- 
bitual to  count  on  its  effects."  This  was  equally  a  great  blow 
to  Mr.  Jefferson,  who  wrote :  "  I  do  sincerely  lament  that 
untoward  circumstances  have  brought  on  the  irreparable  loss 


UNIVERSITY    OF  '  VIRGINIA  109 

of  this  professor,  whom  I  looked  to  as  the  cornerstone  of  our 
edifice.  I  know  no  one  who  could  have  aided  us  so  much  in 
forming  the  future  regulations  for  our  infant  institution;  and 
although  we  may  perhaps  obtain  from  Europe  equivalents  in 
science,  they  never  can  replace  the  advantages  of  his  experi- 
ence, his  knowledge  of  the  character,  habits,  and  manners  of 
our  country,  his  identification  with  the  sentiments  and  prin- 
ciples, and  high  reputation  he  has  obtained  in  it  generally." 
At  one  of  the  early  meetings  of  the  Visitors  it  was  decided 
to  engage  George  Ticknor,  of  Boston,  as  professor  of  modern 
languages,  and  Nathaniel  Bowditch,  of  Salem,  professor  of 
mathematics,  but  unfortunately  both  declined,  having  already 
accepted  satisfactory  positions  elsewhere.  Mr.  Jefferson  wrote 
Adams,  July  I9th :  "  I  am  glad  to  learn  that  Mr.  Ticknor  has 
safely  returned  to  his  friends ;  but  should  have  been  much  more 
pleased  had  he  accepted  the  Professorship  in  our  University, 
which  we  should  have  offered  him  in  form.  Mr.  Bowditch, 
too,  refuses  us;  so  fascinating  is  the  vinculum  of  the  dulce 
natale  solum.  Our  wish  is  to  procure  natives,  where  they  can 
be  found,  like  these  gentlemen,  of  the  first  order  of  acquire- 
ment in  their  respective  lines ;  but  preferring  foreigners  of  the 
first  order  to  natives  of  the  second,  we  shall  certainly  have  to 
go  for  several  of  our  Professors  to  countries  more  advanced 
in  science  than  we  are."  Again  he  wrote  Adams,  August 
1 5th :  "  Our  University,  four  miles  distant,  gives  me  frequent 
exercise,  and  the  oftener,  as  I  direct  its  architecture.  Its  plan 
is  unique,  and  it  is  becoming  an  object  of  curiosity  for  the 
traveler.  I  have  just  read  its  critique  in  your  North  American 
Review,  having  not  been  without  anxiety  to  see  what  that  able 
work  would  say  of  us;  and  I  am  relieved  on  finding  in  it 
much  coincidence  of  opinion,  and  even  where  criticisms  were 
indulged,  I  found  they  would  have  been  obviated  had  the  de- 
velopment of  our  plan  been  fuller."  During:  all  these  months 
there  was  not  the  slightest  cessation  in  building,  and  in  late 
November  Mr.  Jefferson  forwarded  his  report  to  the  Gover- 
nor, in  which  he  estimated  the  entire  cost  of  the  institution, 
exclusive  of  the  library,  at  one  hundred  and  sixty-two  thou- 
sand dollars,  and  made  further  appeal  to  the  Legislature  by 
referring  to  the  good  example  of  New  York,  concluding  thus: 
"  Surely  the  pride  as  well  as  the  patriotism  of  our  Legislature 


no  UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA 

will  be  stimulated  to  look  to  the  reputation  and  safety  of  their 
Own  country  (State),  to  rescue  it  from  the  degradation  of 
becoming  the  Barbary  of  the  Union  and  of  falling  into  the 
ranks  of  our  own  negroes.  To  that  condition  it  is  fast  sinking. 
We  shall  be  in  the  hands  of  other  States,  what  our  indig- 
enous predecessors  were  when  invaded  by  the  science  and 
arts  of  Europe.  The  mass  of  education  in  Virginia  before 
the  Revolution,  placed  her  with  the  foremost  of  her  sister  col- 
onies. What  is  her  education  now  ?  Where  is  it  ?  The  little 
we  have  we  import  like  beggars  from  other  States ;  or  import 
their  beggars  to  bestow  on  us  their  miserable  crumbs.  And 
what  is  wanted  to  restore  us  to  our  station  among  our  com- 
petitors? Not  more  money  from  the  people.  Enough  has 
been  raised  by  them,  and  appropriated  to  this  very  object.  It 
is  that  it  should  be  employed  understandingly,  and  for  the 
greatest  good."  He  also  recommended  again,  with  equal 
failure,  the  establishment  of  the  common  schools  upon  a  self- 
supporting  basis,  in  order  to  liberate  the  entire  Literary  Fund 
for  the  University's  promotion.  Cabell  wrote  him,  January 
18,  25,  1821 :  "  The  general  impression  here  is  that  we  shall 
be  able  to  effect  nothing  for  the  University  during  the  present 
session.  It  is  now  my  serious  intention  to  withdraw  from 
the  Legislature.  My  object  is  domestic,  rural,  and  literary 
leisure." 

To  these  letters  Mr.  Jefferson  replied :  "  They  fill  me  with 
gloom  as  to  the  disposition  of  our  Legislature  towards  the 
University.  I  perceive  that  I  am  not  to  live  to  see  it  opened. 
I  think  we  had  better  not  open  the  institution  until  the  build- 
ings, library  and  all,  are  finished,  and  our  funds  cleared  of 
incumbrance,  which  must  be  infallibly  at  the  end  of  thirteen 
years,  and  as  much  earlier  as  an  enlightened  Legislature  shall 
happen  to  come  into  place.  Even  with  the  whole  funds  we 
shall  be  reduced  to  six  professors,  while  Harvard  will  still 
prime  it  over  us  with  her  twenty  professors.  How  many  of 
our  youths  she  now  has,  learning  the  lessons  of  Anti-Missour- 
ianism,  I  know  not,  but  a  gentleman  lately  from  Princeton  told 
me  he  saw  there  a  list  of  the  students  at  that  place,  and  that 
more  than  half  were  Virginians.  These  will  return  home,  no 
doubt,  deeply  impressed  with  the  sacred  principles  of  our  holy 
alliance  of  Restrictionists."  Thus  in  the  midst  of  his  all-ab- 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  in 

sorbing  University  work,  his  one  chief  ambition  for  her  was 
revealed — a  service  towards  impressing  and  inculcating  his 
political  principles  upon  future  generations.  In  this  same  let- 
ter he  also  discussed  another  loan  of  sixty  thousand  dollars, 
and  upon  Cabell's  suggestion  wrote  to  General  Breckenridge 
a  public  letter  upon  the  subject,  showing  no  preference  and 
taking  no  imputations :  "  I  learn  with  deep  affliction,  that 
nothing  is  likely  to  be  done  for  our  University  this  year.  So 
near  as  it  is  to  the  shore  that  one  shove  more  would  land  it 
there,  I  had  hoped  that  would  be  given;  and  that  we  should 
open  with  the  next  year  an  institution  on  which  the  fortunes 
of  our  country  may  depend  more  than  may  meet  the  general 
eye.  The  reflections  that  the  boys  of  this  age  are  to  be  the 
men  of  the  next;  that  they  should  be  prepared  to  receive  the 
holy  charge  which  we  are  cherishing  to  deliver  to  them ;  that  in 
establishing  an  institution  of  wisdom  for  them,  we  secure  it 
to  all  our  future  generations;  that  in  fulfilling  this  duty, 
we  bring  home  to  our  bosoms  the  sweet  consolation  of  seeing 
our  sons  rising  under  a  luminous  tuition,  to  destinies  of 
high  promise;  these  are  considerations  which  will  occur 
to  all ;  but  all,  I  fear,  do  not  see  the  speck  in  our  £orizon  which 
is  to  burst  on  us  as  a  tornado,  sooner  or  later.  I  fear  our  di- 
visional line  will  never  be  obliterated,  and  we  are  permitting 
our  sons  to  be  trained  by  those  opposed  to  us  in  position  and 
principles.  If  we  send  three  hundred  thousand  dollars  a  year 
to  the  northern  seminaries,  for  the  instruction  of  our  own  sons, 
then  we  must  have  there  five  hundred  of  our  sons,  imbibing 
opinions  and  principles  in  discord  with  those  of  their  country. 
This  canker  is  eating  on  the  vitals  of  our  existence,  and  if  not 
arrested  at  once,  will  be  beyond  remedy.  I  have  brooded,  per- 
haps with  fondness,  over  this  establishment,  as  it  held  up  to 
me  the  hope  of  continuing  to  be  useful  while  I  continue  to  live. 
I  had  believed  my  life  to  be  of  some  favorable  service  to  the 
outset  of  the  institution.  But  this  may  be  egotism;  pardon- 
able, perhaps,  when  I  express  a  consciousness  that  my  col- 
leagues and  successors  will  do  so  well,  whatever  the  Legisla- 
ture shall  enable  them  to  do."  As  hoped  and  intended  this 
letter  made  such  a  powerful  hit,  that  the  House  of  Delegates 
appropriated  another  sixty  thousand  dollars  from  the  Literary 
Fund  for  the  University,  and  Cabell  immediately  wrote  Mr. 


ii2  UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA 

Jefferson :  "  It  is  the  anxious  wish  of  our  best  friends,  and  of 
no  one  more  than  myself,  that  the  money  now  granted  may  be 
sufficient  to  finish  the  buildings.  We  must  not  come  here 
again  on  that  subject.  These  suggestive  applications  for 
money  to  finish  the  buildings,  give  grounds  of  reproach  to  our 
enemies,  and  draw  our  friends  into  difficulties  with  their  con- 
stituents. I  hope  the  buildings  may  be  ready  by  next  winter. 
The  popular  cry  is  that  there  is  too  much  finery  and  too  much 
extravagance." 

The  great  trouble  arose  from  the  fact  of  the  House  being 
a  severely  practical  body,  preferring  to  provide  only  for  pres- 
ent needs  in  the  simplest  form,  while  Mr.  Jefferson  desired 
to  create  an  unique  and  ornate  temple  of  education,  a  pride 
for  all  time  to  himself,  the  cause,  and  the  State — a  sentiment 
the  Senate,  a  more  enlightened  body,  shared  and  felt  willing 
to  promote.  Although  this  Legislative  antagonism  abated 
somewhat,  it  continued  sufficient  to  do  the  University  great 
harm,  as  in  time  it  spread  to  the  general  public.  While  the 
Dr.  Cooper  episode  should  have  ceased  irritating  the  Presby- 
terians at  Hampden-Sidney,  and  the  Episcopalians  at  William 
and  Mary,  yet  the  general  clergy  continued  to  believe  and  pro- 
claim that  the  Socinians  were  to  be  installed  at  the  University 
in  order  to  overthrow  the  prevailing  religious  opinions  of  the 
country. 

Mr.  Jefferson  wrote  Cabell,  September  3Oth :  "  The  Proctor 
has  settled  for  six  pavilions,  one  hotel,  and  thirty-five  dormi- 
tories, and  will  proceed  with  the  rest;  so  that  I  hope,  by  our 
next  meeting,  the  whole  of  the  four  rows  will  be  nearly  set- 
tled." To  this  Cabell  replied,  November  2ist:  "  I  am  at  this 
time  inclined  to  think  I  would  ask  nothing  of  the  present  As- 
sembly. I  would  go  on  and  complete  the  buildings,  and  at 
another  session  make  the  great  effort  to  emancipate  the  funds. 
I  will  heartily  co-operate  in  such  measures  as  your  better 
judgment  will  propose." 

At  a  meeting  of  the  Visitors,  November  3Oth,  a  financial 
arrangement  was  agreed  upon,  a  ground-plat  of  the  buildings 
ordered  engraved  and  copies  made  for  sale,  while  it  was  fur- 
ther decided  to  engage  a  painter  to  draw  a  perspective  view  of 
the  upper  level  of  the  buildings,  and  to  join  other  seminaries 
in  a  petition  to  Congress  for  a  repeal  of  the  duty  on  imported 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  113 

books — thereby  becoming  one  of  the  first  in  this  respect,  as 
she  has  since  in  many  others,  to  relieve  literature  and  science 
of  unwise  burdens.  The  annual  report  adopted  at  this  meet- 
ing, to  go  before  the  Legislature,  contained  a  full  summary 
of  all  expenditures  and  likely  monetary  needs,  also  a  defense 
of  the  style  and  scale  of  the  buildings,  claiming  them  to  be 
"  proportioned  to  the  respectability,  the  means,  and  the  wants 
of  our  country,  and  such  as  will  be  approved  in  any  future 
condition  it  may  attain.  We  owed  to  it  to  do,  not  what  was  to 
perish  with  ourselves,  but  what  would  remain,  be  respected, 
and  preserved  through  other  ages."  Cabell,  January  3,  1822, 
reminded  Mr.  Jefferson  of  the  unchanged  attitude  of  the  Sen- 
ate and  House  towards  the  University — the  one  body  so 
friendly,  the  other  so  hostile — and  that  he  refused  to  sanction 
the  proposition  of  the  House  in  wishing  the  Senate  to  pledge 
the  University  "  never  to  apply  for  any  further  appropriation, 
if  the  Legislature  would  consent  to  cancel  the  University 
bonds." 

Now  the  colleges  had  begun  to  seek  appropriations,  and, 
being  more  popular  than  the  University,  had  to  be  conciliated, 
while  the  clergy  continued  antagonism,  claiming  they  were 
to  be  excluded  from  the  University.  As  financial  relief  for 
the  University  was  all  important,  Mr.  Jefferson  thought  pos- 
sibly that  the  Government  might  be  willing  to  pay  the  arrears 
of  interest,  amounting  to  two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  dol- 
lars, on  the  amount  borrowed  from  the  State  for  war  defence, 
etc.  (which  principal  now  constituted  the  greater  portion  of 
the  Literary  Fund),  and  if  so,  it  might  be  divided  between  the 
colleges  and  the  University;  he  also  desired  a  suspension  for 
four  or  five  years  of  the  interest  payments  by  the  University 
on  its  debts.  Cabell  desired  more  money  from  the  Literary 
Fund,  although  he  preferred  the  cancelling  of  the  University's 
bonds,  and  after  persistent  effort  during  the  entire  session, 
realizing  near  its  close  that  no  aid  would  be  forthcoming, 
wrote  Mr.  Jefferson,  February  nth:  "My  patience  was 
nearly  exhausted,  and  I  felt  an  inclination,  almost  irresistible, 
to  return  to  my  family.  I  remembered,  however,  the  great 
interests  at  stake,  and  chided  my  own  despondency.  Would 
it  be  believed  in  future  times  that  such  efforts  are  necessary 
to  carry  such  a  bill  for  such  an  object!  I  attribute  the  result 


ii4  UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA 

to  the  idea  of  extravagance  in  the  erection  of  the  buildings, 
which  has  spread  far  and  wide  among  the  mass;  and  even 
among  a  part  of  the  intelligent  circle  of  society/' 

Mr.  Jefferson  wrote  Dr.  Waterhouse,  June  26th :  "  I  have 
received  and  read  with  thankfulness  and  pleasure  your  de- 
nunciation of  the  abuses  of  tobacco  and  wine.  I  expect  it  will 
be  a  sermon  to  the  wind.  You  will  find  it  as  difficult  to  incul- 
cate these  sanative  precepts  on  the  sensualities  of  the  present 
day,  as  to  convince  an  Athanasian  that  there  is  but  one  God. 
The  doctrines  of  Jesus  are  simple,  and  tend  all  to  the  happi- 
ness of  man:  i.  That  there  is  one  only  God,  and  he  is  perfect. 

2.  That  there  is  a  future  state  of  rewards  and  punishments. 

3.  That  to  love  God  with  all  your  heart  and  thy  neighbor  as 
thyself,  is  the  sum  of  religion.    These  are  the  great  points  on 
which  he  endeavored  to  reform  the  religion  of  the  Jews.     But 
compare  with  these  the  demoralizing  dogmas  of  Calvin:  i. 
That  there  are  three  Gods.     2.  That  good  works,  or  the  love 
of  our  neighbor,  are  nothing.    3.  That  faith  is  everything,  and 
the  more  incomprehensible  the  proposition,  the  more  merit  in 
its  faith.     4.  That  reason  in  religion  is  of  unlawful  use.     5. 
That  God,  from  the  beginning,  elected  certain  individuals  to 
be  saved,  and  certain  others  to  be  damned ;  and  that  no  crimes 
of  the  former  can  damn  them;  no  virtue  of  the  latter  save. 

Now  which  of  these  is  the  true  and  charitable  Christian? 
He  who  believes  and  acts  on  the  simple  doctrines  of  Jesus,  or 
the  impious  dogmatists,  as  Athanasius  and  Calvin?  Verily 
I  say  these  are  the  false  shepherds,  mere  usurpers  of  the 
Christian  name,  teaching  a  counter-religion  made  up  of  the 
deliria  of  many  imaginations,  as  foreign  from  Christianity 
as  is  that  of  Mahomet.  Their  blasphemies  produce  infidels, 
but  had  the  doctrines  of  Jesus  been  preached  always  as  pure 
as  they  came  from  his  lips,  the  whole  civilized  world  would 
now  have  been  Christian.  I  rejoice  that  the  genuine  doctrine 
of  one  only  God  is  reviving,  and  I  trust  that  there  is  not  a 
young  man  now  living  in  the  United  States  who  will  not  die 
an  Unitarian."  In  a  letter  to  Adams,  June  27th,  he  wrote: 
"  I  happened  to  turn  to  my  letter-list  some  time  ago,  when  I 
found  those  received  year  before  last  to  be  twelve  hundred 
and  sixty-seven,  many  of  them  requiring  answers  of  elaborate 
research,  and  all  to  be  answered  with  due  attention  and  con- 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  115 

sideration.  Is  this  life?  At  best  it  is  but  the  life  of  a  mill- 
horse,  who  sees  no  end  to  his  circle  but  in  death.  To  such  a 
life,  that  of  a  cabbage  is  paradise."  Again,  November  ist, 
"  While  in  Europe  I  formed,  undoubtedly,  the  opinion  that 
our  government,  as  soon  as  practicable,  should  provide  a  naval 
force  sufficient  to  keep  the  Barbary  States  in  order;  and  on 
this  subject  we  communicated  together,  as  you  observe.  When 
I  returned  to  the  United  States  and  took  part  in  the  admini- 
stration under  General  Washington,  I  constantly  maintained 
that  opinion,  and  reported  to  Congress  in  favor  of  a  force 
sufficient  to  protect  our  Mediterranean  commerce.  I  thought 
afterwards,  that  the  public  safety  might  require  some  addi- 
tional vessels  of  strength,  to  be  prepared  and  preserved  in 
readiness  in  dry  docks,  above  the  level  of  the  tide  waters,  cov- 
ered with  roofs,  but  clear  of  the  expense  of  officers  and  men. 
But  the  majority  of  the  Legislature  (Congress)  was  against 
any  addition  to  the  navy,  and  the  minority,  although  for  it  in 
judgment,  voted  against  it  on  the  principle  of  opposition." 

To  this  letter  Adams  replied :  "  I  have  always  imputed  to 
you  the  measures  of  Congress  ordering  the  four  ships  built 
and  the  appointment  of  their  captains,  for  carrying  an  ambas- 
sador to  Algiers  to  protect  our  commerce  in  the  Mediter- 
ranean. I  did  this  for  several  reasons :  First,  because  you  fre- 
quently proposed  it  to  me  while  we  were  at  Paris,  negotiating 
together  for  peace  with  the  Barbary  powers.  Secondly,  be- 
cause I  knew  that  Washington  and  Hamilton  were  not  only 
indifferent  about  a  navy,  but  averse  to  it.  There  was  no  Sec- 
retary of  the  Navy;  only  four  heads  of  department.  I  have 
always  suspected  that  you  and  Knox  were  in  favor  of  a  navy, 
but  Washington,  I  am  confident,  was  against  it  in  his  judg- 
ment, yet  his  attachment  to  Knox,  and  his  deference  to  your 
opinion,  for  I  know  he  had  great  regard  for  you,  might  induce 
him  to  decide  in  favor  of  you  and  Knox,  even  though  Bradford 
united  with  Hamilton  in  opposition  to  you.  I  have  always 
believed  the  navy  to  be  Jefferson's  child,  though  Knox  may 
have  assisted  in  ushering  it  into  the  world.  Hamilton's  hobby 
was  the  army." 


CHAPTER  VI 

THOMAS    JEFFERSON — CHAMPION    OF    FREE- RELIGION    AND 

GOVERNMENT 

Letters  to  Dr.  Cooper  and  James  Smith — religious  conditions  and  ideas; 
student  discipline;  denominational  schools  near  the  University;  letter 
to  Gallatin;  ambition  for  the  University — remitting  her  debts,  finan- 
cial difficulties  disappearing;  correspondence  with  Cabell;  rotunda 
begun;  letter  to  Judge  Johnson  defining  object  of  the  Federalists; 
letter  to  Cartwright  explaining  State  and  Federal  powers;  letter  to 
Adams  concerning  health  and  the  University ;  letter  to  President  Mon- 
roe about  "  Monroe  Doctrine " ;  letters  to  Lafayette,  Cabell,  Jared 
Sparks  and  Van  Buren;  Gilmer  seeking  professors  abroad;  buildings 
completed  and  described ;  English  professors  arrive ;  University  opened 
March  7,  1825. 

MR.  JEFFERSON  wrote  Dr.  Cooper,  November  2,  1822 : 
"  While  in  Boston  Unitarianism  has  advanced  to  great 
strength,  with  interchange  of  sectarian  pulpits,  in  Rhode  Is- 
land no  sectarian  preacher  will  permit  an  Unitarian  to  pollute 
his  desk.  In  Richmond  there  is  much  fanaticism;  in  Char- 
lottesville  there  is  a  good  degree  of  religion,  with  a  small 
spice  of  fanaticism.  We  have  four  sects,  but  no  church  or 
meeting  house,  except  the  court  house,  which  is  the  common 
temple — one  Sunday  in  the  month  to  each,  Episcopalian, 
Presbyterian,  Methodist  and  Baptist,  where  all  meet  together, 
join  in  hymning  their  Maker,  listen  with  attention  and  devo- 
tion to  each  other's  preachers,  and  all  mix  in  society  with  per- 
fect harmony.  The  ambition  and  tyranny  of  the  Presbyterians 
would  tolerate  no  rival  if  they  had  power.  Systematical  in 
grasping  at  the  ascendency  over  all  other  sects,  they  aim,  like 
the  Jesuits,  at  engrossing  the  education  of  the  country,  are 
hostile  and  jealous  of  different  institutions  unless  under 
their  control.  The  diffusion  of  instruction  and  progress  of 
Unitarianism  are  the  remedies  to  this  fever  of  fanaticism. 
In  our  University  you  know  there  is  no  professorship  of  Di- 
vinity. A  handle  has  been  made  of  this,  to  disseminate  an 
idea  that  this  is  an  institution,  not  merely  of  no  religion,  but 

116 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  117 

against  all  religion.  To  offset  this  our  Visitors  suggest  that 
each  sect  establish  its  own  independent  professorship  (semi- 
nary), on  the  confines  of  the  University  deriving  therefrom 
all  possible  advantages  of  the  higher  sciences,  etc.  I  think  the 
invitation  will  be  accepted  by  some  sects  from  candid  inten- 
tions, and  by  others  from  jealousy  and  rivalship.  And  by 
bringing  the  sects  together,  and  mixing  them  with  the  mass  of 
other  students,  we  shall  soften  their  asperities,  liberalize  and 
neutralize  their  prejudices,  and  make  the  general  religion,  a 
religion  of  peace,  reason  and  morality.  The  opening  of  our 
University  is  uncertain.  All  the  pavilions,  boarding  houses 
and  dormitories  are  finished,  nothing  wanting  except  the  Ro- 
tunda, for  whose  construction  we  have  no  funds.  I  have 
heard  with  regret  of  disturbances  among  your  students.  The 
article  of  discipline  is  the  most  difficult  in  American  education. 
Premature  ideas  of  independence,  too  little  repressed  b'y 
parents,  beget  a  spirit  of  insubordination,  which  is  the  great 
obstacle  to  science  with  us,  and  a  principal  cause  of  its  delay 
since  the  Revolution.  I  look  to  it  with  dismay  in  our  institu- 
tion, as  a  breaker  ahead,  which  I  am  far  from  being  confident 
we  shall  be  able  to  weather.  The  advance  of  age,  and  tardy 
pace  of  the  public  patronage,  may  probably  spare  me  the  pain 
of  witnessing  consequences." 

In  a  letter  a  few  weeks  later,  December  8th,  to  James  Smith, 
upon  religious  belief,  he  wrote :  "  The  Athanasian  paradox 
that  one  is  three,  and  three  but  one,  is  so  incomprehensible 
to  the  human  mind,  that  no  candid  man  can  say  he  has  any 
idea  of  it,  and  how  can  he  believe  what  presents  no  idea  ?  He 
who  thinks  he  does,  only  deceives  himself.  He  proves,  also, 
that  man,  once  surrendering  his  reason,  has  no  remaining 
guard  against  absurdities  the  most  monstrous,  and  like  a  ship 
without  a  rudder,  is  the  sport  of  the  wind.  With  such  per- 
sons, gullibility,  which  they  call  faith,  takes  the  helm  from 
the  hand  of  reason,  and  the  mind  becomes  a  wreck.  While 
I  claim  a  right  to  believe  in  one  God,  if  so  my  reason  tells  me, 
I  yield  as  freely  to  others  that  of  believing  in  three.  Both 
religions,  I  find,  make  honest  men,  and  that  is  the  only  point 
society  has  any  right  to  look  to.  I  take  no  part  in  controver- 
sies, religious  or  political." 

The  report  of  the  Visitors  to  the  President  and  Directors 


n8  UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA 

of  the  Literary  Fund  (November  1822)  stated  that  all  the 
buildings  had  been  completed,  except  the  library — to  cost 
forty-seven  thousand  dollars ;  that  it  had  been  decided  as  best 
to  postpone  the  opening-  until  all  building  was  finished,  for 
then  the  whole  income  will  be  absorbed  in  salaries  and  current 
expenses.  Mr.  Jefferson  discussed  the  financial  difficulties  and 
the  religious  attitude  of  the  University,  suggesting  as  a  rem- 
edy for  the  lack  of  specific  religious  instruction,  that  the  de- 
nominations "  establish  their  religious  schools  on  the  confines 
of  the  University,  thus  giving  to  their  students  ready  and  con- 
venient access  and  attendance  on  the  scientific  lectures  of  the 
University;  and  to  maintain,  by  that  means,  those  destined 
for  the  religious  profession  on  as  high  a  standing  of  science, 
and  of  personal  weight  and  respectability,  as  may  be  obtained 
by  others  from  the  benefits  of  the  University.  To  such  propo- 
sitions the  Visitors  are  prepared  to  lend  a  willing  ear  and  to 
give  every  encouragement  to  these  schools,  and  every  facility 
of  access  and  attendance  to  their  students,  the  schools  being 
independent  of  the  University  and  of  each  other."  This  very 
wise  suggestion  was  never  taken  seriously,  as  the  denomina- 
tional institutions  have  all  remained  where  originally  estab- 
lished, or  been  located  elsewhere.  The  report  further  showed 
that  two  hundred  thousand  dollars  had  been  expended  so  far, 
with  a  deficit  of  twenty-seven  thousand  dollars. 

Mr.  Jefferson  wrote  Gallatin,  October  29  (1822):  "Our 
University  of  Virginia,  my  present  hobby,  has  been  at  a  stand 
for  twelve-month  past  for  want  of  funds.  Our  last  Legisla- 
ture refused  anything.  The  last  elections  give  better  hopes 
of  the  next.  The  institution  is  so  far  advanced  that  it  will 
force  itself  through.  So  little  is  now  wanting  that  the  first 
liberal  Legislature  will  give  it  its  last  life." 

Cabell  suggested,  December  23rd :  "  That  he  be  authorized 
to  ask  the  Legislature  for  fifty  thousand  dollars  to  build  the 
library,  as  a  loan  out  of  the  surplus  capital  on  hand,  and  to 
put  the  whole  University  debt — one  hundred  and  seventy 
thousand  dollars — under  the  operation  of  the  sinking  fund. 
This  is  manly  and  dignified  legislation,  and  if  we  fail,  the 
blame  will  not  be  ours.  The  public  mind  seems  impatient  for 
a  commencement  of  the  operations  of  the  institution." 

Mr.  Jefferson  replied,  December  28th :  "  Of  all  things  the 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  119 

most  important  is  the  completion  of  the  buildings.  The  re- 
mission of  the  debt  will  come  of  itself.  It  is  already  remitted 
in  the  minds  of  every  man,  even  of  the  enemies  of  the  institu- 
tion. The  great  object  of  our  aim  from  the  beginning  has 
been  to  make  the  establishment  the  most  eminent  in  the  United 
States,  to  draw  the  youth  of  every  State,  especially  those  of 
the  South  and  West.  We  have  proposed,  therefore,  to  call 
to  it  characters  of  the  first  order  of  science  from  Europe,  as 
well  as  our  own  country.  Had  we  built  a  barn  for  a  college, 
and  log  huts  for  accommodations,  should  we  ever  have  had  the 
assurance  to  propose  to  an  European  professor  of  that  char- 
acter to  come  to  it?  Why  give  up  this  important  idea,  when 
so  near  its  accomplishment  that  a  single  lift  more  effects  it? 
The  opening  of  the  institution  in  a  half-state  of  readiness, 
would  be  the  most  fatal  step  which  could  be  adopted.  A  single 
sum  of  sixty  thousand  dollars  is  wanting.  If  we  cannot  get 
it  now,  we  will  another  or  another  trial.  Courage  and  pa- 
tience is  the  watchword.  Delay  is  an  evil  which  will  pass; 
despair  loses  all.  Let  us  never  give  back.  The  thing  will 
carry  itself,  and  with  firmness  and  perseverance  we  shall 
place  our  country  (State)  on  its  high  station,  and  we  shall 
receive  for  it  the  blessings  of  posterity.  I  think  your  idea  of 
a  loan,  and  placing  it  on  the  sinking  fund,  an  excellent  one. 
We  are  safe  in  saying  that  another  loan  of  sixty  thousand 
dollars  will  place  us  beyond  the  risk  of  our  needing  to  ask 
another  dollar  on  that  account." 

Cabell  wrote  two  days  later,  December  3Oth :  "  It  gives  me 
heartfelt  pleasure  to  inform  you  that  the  intelligent  members 
generally  express  the  opinion  that  the  institution  should  be 
finished.  This  confirms  the  propriety  of  the  course  we  have 
taken."  And  again,  January  9  (1823)  :  "  I  am  happy  to  in- 
form you  that  our  prospects  are  now  very  favorable.  Every- 
thing is  understood;  everything  is  arranged.  The  report  I 
am  told,  will  have  a  very  happy  effect.  The  institution  is 
gaining  greatly  in  the  South  and  to  the  East,  and  indeed 
everywhere.  The  prints  of  the  University  will  be  brought  up 
rapidly."  Mr.  Jefferson  wrote,  January  13,  1823 :  "  The  local 
academies  should  be  left  to  private  enterprise,  but  primary 
schools  might  be  looked  after.  Were  it  necessary  to  give  up 
either  the  Primaries  or  the  University,  I  would  rather  abandon 


120  UNIVERSITY    OF   VIRGINIA 

the  last,  because  it  is  safer  to  have  a  whole  people  respectably 
enlightened,  than  a  few  in  a  high  state  of  science,  and  the 
many  in  ignorance.  This  last  is  the  most  dangerous  state  in 
which  a  nation  can  be.  The  nations  and  governments  of 
Europe  are  so  many  proofs  of  it." 

Cabell  replied,  January  23rd:  "  Our  most  prudent  course,  at 
this  time,  is  to  neither  enter  into  alliance  or  make  war  upon 
the  academies  and  primary  schools.  Politeness  to  all,  inter- 
ference with  none,  and  devotion  to  our  object,  constitute  the 
policy  that  ought,  in  my  opinion,  to  govern  the  course  of  the 
friends  of  the  University." 

Mr.  Jefferson  replied,  January  28th :  "  Your  letter  has  con- 
verted me  entirely — we  need  take  no  part  for  or  against  either 
the  academies  or  schools." 

Cabell  wrote,  February  3rd :  "  There  is  now  no  doubt  of  the 
success  of  our  Loan  Bill.  I  earnestly  hope  that  this  loan  will 
finish  the  buildings.  We  must  never  come  here  again  for 
money  to  erect  buildings.  The  Proctor's  account  has  pro- 
duced capital  effect,  as  the  Legislature  was  much  pleased  to 
see  the  public  money  so  accurately  accounted  for,  and  so  faith- 
fully applied.  I  think  also  that  your  suggestion  respecting  the 
religious  sects  has  had  great  influence.  It  is  the  Franklin 
that  has  drawn  the  lightning  from  the  cloud  of  opposition." 
And  again,  February  5th :  "  I  have  now  the  satisfaction  to 
enclose  you  a  copy  of  the  act  concerning  the  University,  which 
has  this  moment  passed  the  Senate,  and  is  now  the  law  of  the 
land.  I  am  now  casting  about  to  see  if  we  can  cancel  the 
bonds.  The  best  interests  of  the  institution  require  that  we 
should  come  here  no  more  for  money  for  buildings ;  some  say 
their  patience  is  threadbare  on  the  subject.  The  Hampden- 
Sidney  interest  was  opposed  to  us,  as  was  that  of  William  and 
Mary,  but  the  latter  has  sensibly  diminished.  We  hear  noth- 
ing of  the  Washington  College  interest."  And  again,  Febru- 
ary 26th :  "  A  strong  and  general  wish  prevails  that  we  should 
finish  the  buildings  with  the  third  loan.  If  we  do  this,  I  think 
all  will  ultimately  succeed.  I  think  the  enemy  is  ready  to 
strike  his  colors." 

Mr.  Jefferson  wrote,  March  I2th:  "The  Proctor  has  been 
authorized  to  engage  the  work  of  the  Rotunda,  and  have  it 
commenced  immediately.  It  will  be  completed  as  far  as  the 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  121 

funds  may  go,  and  not  delay  the  opening  of  the  institution. 
The  work  will  occupy  three  years."  Cabell  replied,  March 
24th :  "  I  approve  the  engaging  for  the  hull  of  the  library. 
There  is  a  powerful  party  in  this  State,  with  whom  it  is  almost 
a  passport  to  reputation  to  condemn  the  plan  and  manage- 
ment of  the  University.  Perhaps  this  may  be  the  natural  re- 
sult of  old  political  conflicts  (Federalists).  When  asked 
concerning  books  and  apparatus,  he  had  replied :  that  it  would 
certainly  be  good  policy  in  the  Legislature  to  grant  occa- 
sional aids  toward  those  objects ;  but  that  the  institution  could 
go  into  operation  and  flourish  without  them.  I  think  it  would 
be  both  politic  and  proper  to  ask  the  Legislature  to  anticipate 
on  a  loan  that  portion  of  the  tuition  fees  which  was  to  be  set 
aside  for  those  objects." 

Mr.  Jefferson  wrote  Judge  Johnson,  June  12  (1823)  :  "  The 
original  objects  of  the  Federalists  were:  I.  To  warp  our  gov- 
ernment more  to  the  form  and  principles  of  monarchy;  2.  To 
weaken  the  barriers  of  the  State  Governments  as  co-ordinate 
powers.  I  have  been  blamed  for  saying  that  a  prevalence  of 
the  doctrines  of  consolidation  would  one  day  call  for  reforma- 
tion or  revolution.  I  answer  by  asking,  if  a  single  State 
would  have  agreed  to  the  constitution,  had  it  given  all  powers 
to  the  General  Government?  If  the  whole  opposition  to  it 
did  not  proceed  from  the  jealousy  and  fear  of  every  State, 
of  being  subjected  to  the  other  States  in  matters  nearly  its 
own?  And  if  there  is  any  reason  to  believe  the  States  more 
disposed  now  than  then,  to  acquiesce  in  this  general  surrender 
of  all  their  rights  and  powers  to  consolidated  government,  one 
and  undivided?  The  capital  and  leading  object  of  the  con- 
stitution was,  to  leave  with  the  States  all  authorities  which 
respected  their  own  citizens  only,  and  to  transfer  to  the  United 
States  those  which  respected  citizens  of  foreign  or  other 
States;  to  make  us  several  as  to  ourselves,  but  one  as  to  all 
others." 

Upon  the  same  subject  he  wrote  Cartwright :  "  The  one  is 
the  domestic,  the  other  the  foreign  branch  of  the  same  gov- 
ernment; neither  having  control  over  the  other,  but  within 
its  own  department.  If  the  two  departments  should  claim 
each  the  same  subjects  of  power,  in  cases  of  little  importance 
or  urgency  the  prudence  of  both  parties  will  keep  them  aloof 


122  UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA 

from  the  questionable  ground,  but  if  it  can  neither  be  avoided 
or  compromised,  a  convention  of  the  States  must  be  called,  to 
ascribe  the  doubtful  power  to  that  department  which  they 
may  think  best.  Our  constitution  is  yet  imperfect.  I  do  not 
think  one  generation  can  bind  another,  and  all  others,  in  suc- 
cession forever.  The  Creator  has  made  the  earth  for  the  liv- 
ing, not  the  dead.  Rights  and  powers  can  only  belong  to 
persons,  not  to  things,  not  to  mere  matter,  unendowed  with 
will.  The  dead  are  not  even  things.  The  particles  of  matter 
which  compose  their  bodies,  make  part  now  of  the  bodies  of 
other  animals,  vegetables,  or  minerals,  of  a  thousand  forms. 
To  what  then  are  attached  the  rights  and  powers  they  held 
while  in  the  form  of  man?  A  generation  may  bind  itself  as 
long  as  its  majority  continues  in  life;  when  that  has  disap- 
peared, another  majority  is  in  place,  holds  all  the  rights  and 
powers  their  predecessors  once  held,  and  may  change  their 
laws  and  institutions  to  suit  themselves.  Nothing  then  is  un- 
changeable but  inherent  and  unalienable  rights  of  man." 

The  report  of  the  Visitors,  October  6,  1823,  stated:  That 
the  library  building  was  then  ready  for  the  roof,  but  it  will 
be  allowed  to  settle  and  dry  until  the  ensuing  season.  All  the 
other  buildings  are  now  in  perfect  readiness  for  putting  the 
institution  into  operation,  and  this  might  be  done  at  the  close 
of  the  ensuing  year,  1824,  were  its  funds  liberated  from  their 
present  incumb ranees,  but  these  remove  the  epoch  to  a  very 
distant  time — as  the  loan  could  not  be  extinguished  for  twenty- 
five  years. 

Mr.  Jefferson  wrote  Adams,  October  I2th :  "  Crippled  wrists 
and  fingers  make  writing  slow  and  laborious.  But  while  writ- 
ing to  you,  I  lose  the  sense  of  these  things  in  the  recollection 
of  antient  times,  when  youth  and  health  made  happiness  out 
of  everything.  I  forget  for  a  while  the  hoary  winter  of  age, 
when  we  can  think  of  nothing  but  how  to  keep  ourselves 
warm,  and  how  to  get  rid  of  our  heavy  hours  until  the  friendly 
hand  of  death  shall  rid  us  of  all  at  once.  Against  this  tedium 
vitas,  however,  I  am  fortunately  mounted  on  a  hobby,  which, 
indeed,  I  should  have  better  managed  some  thirty  or  forty 
years  ago ;  but  whose  easy  amble  is  still  sufficient  to  give  exer- 
cise and  amusement  to  an  octogenary  rider.  This  is  the  es- 
tablishment of  a  University,  on  a  scale  more  comprehensive, 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  123 

and  in  a  country  more  healthy  and  central  than  our  William 
and  Mary,  which  these  obstacles  have  long  kept  in  a  state  of 
langor  and  inefficiency.  But  the  tardiness  with  which  such 
works  proceed,  may  render  it  doubtful  whether  I  shall  live  to 
see  it  go  into  action.  It  would  be  strange  indeed,  if,  at  our 
years,  we  were  to  go  an  age  back  to  hunt  up  imaginary  or 
forgotten  facts,  to  disturb  the  repose  of  affections  so  sweet- 
ening to  the  evening  of  our  lives.  Be  assured,  my  dear  Sir, 
that  I  am  incapable  of  receiving  the  slightest  impression  from 
the  effort  now  made  to  plant  thorns  on  the  pillow  of  age, 
worth  and  wisdom,  and  to  sow  tares  between  friends  who  have 
been  such  for  near  half  a  century." 

Mr.  Jefferson  a  week  later,  October  24th,  wrote  President 
Monroe :  "  The  question  presented  by  the  letters  you  have 
sent  me,  is  the  most  momentous  which  has  ever  been  offered 
to  my  contemplation  since  that  of  Independence.  That  made 
us  a  nation,  this  sets  our  compass  and  points  our  course.  Our 
first  and  fundamental  maxim  should  be,  never  to  entangle  our- 
selves with  the  broils  of  Europe.  Our  second,  never  to  suffer 
Europe  to  intermeddle  with  cis-Atlantic  affairs.  America, 
North  and  South,  has  a  set  of  interests  distinct  from  those  of 
Europe,  and  peculiarly  her  own  " — Monroe  Doctrine,  but  bet- 
ter, Jefferson-Monroe  Doctrine.  "  Great  Britain  can  do  us  the 
most  harm  of  any  one,  or  all  on  earth,  and  with  her  on  our 
side  we  need  not  fear  the  whole  world.  With  her  we  must 
cherish  a  cordial  friendship.  I  candidly  confess,  that  I  have 
ever  looked  on  Cuba  as  the  most  interesting  addition  which 
could  ever  be  made  to  our  system  of  States.  I  have  been  so 
long  weaned  from  political  subjects,  and  have  so  long  ceased 
to  take  any  interest  in  them,  that  I  am  sensible  I  am  not  quali- 
fied to  offer  opinions  on  them  worthy  of  any  attention.  But 
this  question  involves  consequences  so  lasting,  and  effects  so 
decisive  of  our  future  destinies,  as  to  re-kindle  all  the  interest 
I  have  heretofore  felt  on  such  occasions,  and  to  induce  me  to 
the  hazard  of  opinions,  which  will  prove  only  my  wish  to 
contribute  still  my  mite  towards  anything  which  may  be  useful 
to  our  country." 

Mr.  Jefferson  wrote  Lafayette,  November  4th :  "  Whether 
the  state  of  society  in  Europe  can  bear  a  republican  govern- 
ment, I  doubted,  you  know,  when  with  you,  and  I  do  now.  A 


124  UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA 

limited  hereditary  chief,  the  right  of  war  vested  in  the  legis- 
lative body,  a  rigid  economy  of  the  public  contributions,  and 
absolute  interdiction  of  all  useless  expenses,  will  go  far  to- 
wards keeping  the  government  honest  and  unoppressive.  But 
the  only  security  of  all,  is  in  a  free  press.  On  the  eclipse  of 
Federalism  with  us,  although  not  its  extinction,  its  leaders  got 
up  the  Missouri  question  (Compromise),  under  the  false  front 
of  lessening  slavery,  but  with  the  real  view  of  producing  a 
geographical  division  of  parties,  which  might  insure  them  the 
next  President.  However,  the  line  of  division  now,  is  the 
preservation  of  State  rights  as  reserved  in  the  Constitution, 
or  by  strained  constructions  of  that  instrument,  to  merge  all 
into  a  consolidated  government.  After  much  sickness,  and 
the  accident  of  a  broken  and  disabled  arm,  I  am  again  in 
tolerable  health,  but  extremely  debilitated,  so  as  to  be  scarcely 
able  to  walk  into  my  garden.  The  habitude  of  age,  too,  and 
extinguishment  of  interest  in  the  things  around  me,  are  wean- 
ing me  from  them,  and  dispose  me  with  cheerfulness  to  resign 
them  to  the  existing  generation,  satisfied  that  the  daily  advance 
of  science  will  enable  them  to  administer  the  commonwealth 
with  increased  wisdom." 

Cabell  wrote,  November  22  (1823),  regretting  his  inability 
to  go  to  Europe  for  Professors,  as  Mr.  Jefferson  wished — a 
mission  afterwards  filled  by  Francis  W.  Gilmer — but  added, 
"  I  will  continue  my  best  endeavors  to  co-operate  with  you  in 
the  State,  and  for  that  purpose  I  hope  I  shall  be  able  to  remain 
in  the  Legislature."  And  again,  December  3rd :  "  I  am  here 
(Richmond)  to  join  the  band  of  steadfast  patriots  engaged  in 
the  holy  cause  of  the  University.  As  far  as  I  can  learn,  the 
public  sentiment  is  decidedly  in  favor  of  removing  the  debt." 
And  again,  January  26,  1824:  "The  University  Bill,  liber- 
ating her  funds  from  the  charged  incumbrances,  is  now  before 
the  Senate  and  will  be  acted  on  in  a  day  or  two.  We  gained  a 
great  victory.  The  bill  is  worth  ten  thousand  and  eight  hun- 
dred dollars  per  annum  to  the  University.  We  can  get  no 
more  money  for  building  this  year." 

Mr.  Jefferson  wrote  Jared  Sparks,  February  4  (1824): 
"  The  article  on  the  African  colonization  of  the  people  of 
color,  to  whom  you  invite  my  attention,  I  have  read  with  great 
consideration.  To  fulfil  this  object,  the  colony  of  Sierra  Le- 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  125 

one  promises  well,  and  that  of  Mesurado  adds  to  our  prospect 
of  success.  They  now  number  one  million  and  a  half,  and  their 
estimated  value  as  property  ( for  actual  property  has  been  law- 
fully invested  in  that  form,  and  who  can  lawfully  take  it  from 
the  possessors?),  at  two  hundred  dollars  each,  would  be  six 
hundred  millions  of  dollars,  and  to  this  transportation,  main- 
tenance, industrial  implements,  etc.,  would  amount  to  three 
hundred  millions  more,  making  thirty-six  millions  of  dollars 
a  year  for  twenty-five  years.  This  with  insurance  of  peace 
all  that  time,  renders  the  question  impractical.  There  is,  I 
think,  a  way  in  which  it  can  be  done ;  that  is,  by  emancipating 
the  after  born,  leaving  them,  on  due  compensation,  with  their 
mothers,  until  their  services  are  worth  their  maintenance,  and 
then  putting  them  to  industrious  occupations,  until  a  proper 
age  for  deportation.  This  was  the  result  of  my  reflections  on 
the  subject  five  and  forty  years  ago,  and  I  have  never  yet  been 
able  to  conceive  any  other  practical  plan.  The  estimated  value 
of  the  new-born  infant  is  so  low  (twelve  dollars  and  fifty 
cents),  that  it  would  probably  be  yielded  by  the  owner  gratis, 
thus  reducing  the  initial  cost  to  thirty-seven  millions  and  a 
half,  leaving  only  the  expenses  of  nourishment  while  with 
the  mother,  and  of  transportation.  In  this  way  no  violation 
of  private  rights  is  proposed.  I  do  not  go  into  all  the  details 
of  the  burthens  and  benefits  of  this  operation.  And  who  could 
estimate  its  blessed  effects  ?  I  leave  this  to  those  who  will  live 
to  see  their  accomplishment,  and  to  enjoy  a  beatitude  forbidden 
to  my  age.  But  I  leave  it  with  this  admonition,  to  rise  and 
be  doing.  A  million  and  a  half  were  within  their  control ;  but 
six  millions  (which  a  majority  of  those  now  living  will  see 
them  attain),  and  one  million  of  these  fighting  men,  will  say — 
we  will  not  go. 

Cabell  wrote  Mr.  Jefferson,  February  iQth:  "That  the 
House  of  Delegates  had  rechartered  the  Farmers'  Bank 
without  demanding  a  bonus,  which  I  propose  from  the  Senate 
shall  be  fifty  thousand  dollars — the  amount  we  need  for  our 
library  (books)  and  apparatus.  As  a  fact  we  have  been  com- 
pelled to  accept  an  equivalent  out  of  the  balance  of  the  debt 
due  from  the  Government.  Never  have  I  known  so  obstinate 
a  struggle  between  the  two  Houses  of  Assembly.  It  is  very 
important  that  we  should  succeed  at  Washington.  We  have 


126  UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA 

exhausted  the  favor  of  the  Assembly,  and  we  must  not  ask  for 
a  cent  at  the  next  session;  if  we  do,  we  shall  be  turned  off 
by  a  large  majority.  One  line  from  yourself  and  Mr.  Madison 
will  do  more  than  all  the  members  of  the  Assembly  could  say 
on  this  subject."  Cabell  went  to  Washington  and  placed 
the  cause,  in  a  lucid  letter,  before  the  President,  and  while 
barren  of  immediate  results  it  no  doubt  influenced  the  fu- 
ture action.  Mr.  Jefferson  wrote  Martin  Van  Buren,  June 
29  (1824)  :  "I  have  to  thank  you  for  Mr.  Pickering's  elab- 
orate philippic  against  Mr.  Adams,  Gerry,  Smith  and  my- 
self. I  could  not  have  believed  that  for  so  many  years,  and  to 
such  a  period  of  advanced  age,  he  could  have  nourished  pas- 
sions so  vehement  and  viperous.  As  to  myself,  there  never 
had  been  anything  personal  between  us,  nothing  but  the  general 
opposition  of  party  sentiment;  and  our  personal  intercourse 
had  been  that  of  urbanity,  as  himself  says.  He  arraigns  my  ac- 
tions, motives,  such  as  the  great  majority  of  my  fellow  citizens 
have  approved.  The  approbation  of  Mr.  Pickering,  'and  those 
who  thought  with  him,  I  had  no  right  to  expect.  My  motives 
he  ascribes  to  hypocrisy,  to  ambition,  and  a  passion  for  pop- 
ularity. Of  these  the  world  must  judge  between  us.  It 
is  no  office  of  his  or  mine.  To  that  tribunal  I  have  ever  sub- 
mitted my  actions  and  motives,  without  ransacking  the  Union 
for  certificates,  letters,  journals  and  gossiping  tales,  to  justify 
myself  and  weary  them.  Nor  shall  I  do  this  on  the  present 
occasion,  but  leave  still  to  them  these  antionated  party  diatribes, 
now  newly  revamped  and  paraded,  as  if  they  had  not  been 
already  a  thousand  times  repeated,  refuted,  and  adjudged 
against  him,  by  the  nation  itself.  If  no  action  is  to  be  deemed 
virtuous  for  which  malice,  can  imagine  a  sinister  motive,  then 
there  never  was  a  virtuous  action,  not  even  in  the  life  of  our 
Savior  himself.  But  he  has  taught  us  to  judge  the  tree  by 
its  fruit,  and  to  leave  motives  to  him  who  can  alone  see  into 
them.  Washington  lived  too  short  a  time  after,  and  too  much 
withdrawn  from  information,  to  correct  the  views  into  which 
he  had  been  deluded ;  and  the  continued  assiduities  of  the  party 
drew  him  into  the  vortex  of  their  intemperate  career ;  separated 
him  still  farther  from  his  real  friends,  and  excited  him  to 
actions  and  expressions  of  dissatisfaction,  which  grieves  them, 
but  could  not  loosen  their  affections  for  him.  They  would  not 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  127 

suffer  the  temporary  aberration  to  weigh  against  the  im- 
measurable merits  of  his  life;  and  although  they  tumbled  his 
seducers  from  their  places,  they  preserved  his  memory  em- 
balmed, in  entire  oblivion  of  every  temporary  thing  which 
might  cloud  the  glories  of  his  splendid  life.  It  is  vain  then, 
for  Mr.  Pickering  and  his  friends  to  endeavor  to  falsify  his 
character,  by  representing  him  an  enemy  to  republicans  and  re- 
publican principles,  and  exclusively  the  friend  of  those  who 
were  so;  and  had  he  lived  longer,  he  would  have  returned  to 
his  antient  and  unbiassed  opinions,  would  have  replaced  his 
confidence  in  those  whom  the  people  approved  and  supported, 
and  would  have  seen  that  they  were  only  restoring  and  acting 
on  the  principles  of  his  own  first  administration." 

At  the  next  meeting  of  the  Visitors,  October  5  (1824),  ow- 
ing to  insufficient  funds  it  was  determined  to  institute  eight 
rather  than  ten  professorships — ancient  languages,  modern 
languages,  mathematics,  natural  philosophy,  natural  history, 
anatomy  and  medicine,  moral  philosophy,  law — and  the  re- 
port mentioned  the  reason  for  seeking  some  of  the  professors 
from  Europe,  and  that  Francis  W.  Gilmer  was  already  on 
his  way  across  for  that  purpose,  whose  mission,  if  successful, 
would  admit  of  the  University  opening  February  i,  1825. 
Practically  the  buildings  now  were  finished,  and  in  readiness 
for  the  teaching  equipment,  professors  and  students,  and  pre- 
sented, as  an  entirety,  a  most  magnificent  group — in  our 
country  the  first  evidence  in  college  or  university  construction 
in  keeping  with  harmonious  architectural  designs.  These 
in  the  writer's  day,  so  far  as  the  central  academic  village  was 
concerned,  existed  as  though  just  from  Mr.  Jefferson's  hands, 
for  they  had  neither  received  nor  taken  to  themselves  any- 
thing except  the  necessary  minor  repairs  incident  to  age  and 
usage.  It  is  true  additions  had  been  made  to  the  University 
accommodations,  but  upon  out-lying  hills  and  points  that  in 
no  way  interfered  with  the  sacredness  of  the  originally  con- 
structed group.  Professor  Herbert  B.  Adams  beautifully  re- 
counts his  own  sense  of  surprise  and  admiration  of  them  in  the 
following  words :  "  A  visitor,  pacing  slowly  through  those 
monastic  colonnades  extending  along  two  sides  of  the  great 
quadrangle  campus  of  the  University  of  Virginia  will  receive  a 
strange  variety  of  impressions  from  the  extraordinary  archi- 


128  UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA 

tectural  combinations  which  greet  his  wandering  eyes.  The 
arcades  themselves,  from  which  open  directly  the  single  cham- 
bered rooms  of  the  students,  remind  one  of  cloistered  walks 
in  some  ancient  monastery.  These  student-rooms  are  like 
monkish  cells.  But  what  wonderful  fagades  are  those  which 
front  the  professors'  houses  or  pavilions!  They  reproduce 
classic  styles  of  architecture.  The  shadows  of  remote  antiquity 
are  cast  upon  those  beautiful  grassy  lawns  which  form  the 
campus,  or,  shall  we  say  the  campo  santo,  of  the  University 
of  Virginia.  From  Mr.  Jefferson's  drawings  we  learn,  what 
is  now  well-nigh  forgotten,  that  these  varying  types  of  classic 
architecture  were  copied  from  well-known  Roman  buildings, 
pictured  by  A.  Palladio,  in  his  great  work  of  four  volumes, 
on  architecture :  Thus  of  the  pavilions  on  West  Lawn,  the  first 
(Gildersleeve's,  Page's)  typifies,  The  Doric  of  Diocletian's 
Baths — Chambray;  the  second  (Harrison's) — Corinthian  of 
Palladio;  the  third  (Smith's) — Palladio's  Ionic  order  with 
modillions ;  the  fourth  (Boeck's,  N.  K.  Davis')— Doric  of  Pal- 
ladio; the  fifth  (McGuffey's,  Peters')— Ionic  of  Temple  of 
Fortuna  Virilis,  while  those  on  East  Lawn,  the  first  (Cabell's) 
— Ionic  of  Fortuna  Virilis;  the  second  (DeVere's) — Doric  of 
Albano;  the  third  (Holmes') — Ionic  of  the  Theater  of  Marcel- 
lus;  the  fourth  (J.  S.  Davis') — Corinthian,  Diocletian's  Baths; 
the  fifth  (Minor's)— Doric  of  the  Theater  of  Marcellus.  At 
the  upper  or  northern  end  of  the  quadrangle,  stands  the  Ro- 
tunda, a  fac-simile  of  the  Roman  Pantheon,  the  temple  of  all 
the  gods,  reduced  to  one-third  its  original  size,  but  still  majestic 
and  imposing.  This  building  upon  which  Mr.  Jefferson  spent 
almost  as  much  pains  as  Michael  Angelo  did  upon  the  dome 
of  St.  Peters,  comprises  the  library  and  various  lecture  halls. 
Young  people  dance  merrily  under  that  stately  dome  at  the  end 
of  the  academic  year.  The  young  monks  thus  escape  from 
their  cells  into  the  modern  social  world.  How  charmingly  old 
Rome,  mediaeval  Europe,  and  modern  America  blend  together 
before  the  very  eyes  of  young  Virginia !  There  is  a  manifest 
unity  in  Jefferson's  institutional  creation,  and  yet  a  reflecting 
student  cannot  fail  to  see  that  there  is  an  interesting  historical 
background  to  this  beautiful  picture.  In  the  material  structure 
of  the  University  of  Virginia  there  is  much  to  remind  the 
traveler  of  Old  World  forms,  and  in  the  documentary  history 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  129 

of  the  institution  itself  there  are  many  indications  of  European 
influence  upon  the  mind  of  Mr.  Jefferson. 

These  things  have  greatly  interested  me,  and  they  may  not 
be  unworthy  of  the  attention  of  friends  of  American  educa- 
tional history,  in  which  so  little  work  has  been  done,  especially 
in  the  Southern  States.  The  formative  influences  which  en- 
tered into  the  making  of  the  University  of  Virginia  are  doubt- 
less more  numerous  than  those  described  in  this  monograph; 
but  Mr.  Jefferson  was  the  master  and  controller  of  them  all. 
It  is  no  detraction  from  his  individual  power  of  origination 
to  open  the  volume  of  his  large  experience  in  the  world,  and 
to  point  out  here  and  there  his  connection  with  men  and 
things  that  shaped  his  purpose  to  its  noble  end.  Instead  of 
evolving  the  University  of  Virginia  entirely  out  of  his  own 
inner  consciousness,  Mr.  Jefferson  combined,  in  an  original 
and  independent  creation,  the  result  of  academic  training,  phil- 
osophical culture,  foreign  travel,  wide  observation,  and  of 
an  extensive  correspondence  with  the  most  illustrious  educa- 
tors of  his  time.  His  intelligent  study  of  Old  World  insti- 
tutions prepared  him  to  devise  something  new  for  Virginia 
and  America.  How  the  idea  of  one  man  became  the  sov- 
ereign will  of  the  State,  after  a  struggle  of  fifty  years  for  the 
higher  education,  is  an  instructive  study,  affording  grounds  for 
encouragement  in  these  modern  days." 

'  Had  Mr.  Jefferson  only  lived  a  few  years  longer  he  would 
have  experienced  a  mingled  feeling  of  pleasure  and  sorrow 
— at  seeing  the  immense  popularity  of  his  favorite  child  over- 
taxing her  capacity  in  supplying  hungry  youth  of  his  beloved 
land  with  educational  food.  Indeed,  it  is  curious  to  speculate 
upon  what  would  have  been  his  plans  of  extension — that  which 
his  immediate  successors  found  a  necessity  in  both  dormitories 
and  teaching  equipment.  But,  under  the  wearying  struggle 
for  existence  that  had  followed  her  very  inception,  action  was 
deferred  many  years  beyond  the  demand — until  finally  a  spirit 
of  growth  was  inaugurated  that  has  been  continuous  with  the 
years  and  this  result:  Public  Hall  (1851-53),  Parsonage 
(1854-55),  Monroe  Hill  (1854),  Temperance  Hall  (1855- 
56),  Infirmary  (1857),  Carr's  Hill  (1858),  Dawson's  Row — 
six  buildings,  known  as  "  A,"  "  B,"  "  C,"  "  D,"  "  E,"  "  F," 
each  of  two-story  and  eight  rooms  (1859),  Professor  Mallet's 


1 30  UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA 

Residence  and  Chemical  Laboratory  (1868-69),  Lewis  Brooks 
Museum  (1875-77),  Observatory  (1882),  University  Chapel 
(1883-85),  New  Med  Hall  (1886),  Dispensary  (1892), 
Fayerweather  Gymnasium  (1892-93),  Academic  Building, 
Mechanical  Laboratory,  Rouss  Physical  Laboratory  and 
Restored  Rotunda  (1896-98),  Randall  Dormitory  (1899), 
Hospital  (190005-08),  Madison  Hall  (1905),  Refectory 
(1907),  President's  Residence  (1908). 

Mr.  Jefferson,  December  22,  1824,  informed  Cabell  of  the 
safe  arrival  of  Professors  Blaetterman  (modern  languages) 
and  Long  (ancient  languages),  and  three  weeks  later,  January 
n,  1825,  wrote:  "We  are  dreadfully  non-plussed  here  by 
the  non-arrival  of  our  other  three  professors.  We  apprehend 
that  the  idea  of  our  opening  on  February  ist,  prevails  so  much 
abroad  (although  we  have  always  mentioned  it  doubtfully), 
as  that  the  students  will  assemble  on  that  day  without  awaiting 
the  further  notice  which  was  promised.  In  your  letter,  Decem- 
ber 3ist,  you  say  my  *  hand  writing  and  letters  have  great  ef- 
fect there  (Richmond).  I  am  sensible,  my  dear  Sir,  of  the 
kindness  with  which  this  encouragement  is  held  up  to  me.  But 
my  views  of  their  effect  are  very  different.  When  I  retired 
from  the  administration  of  public  affairs,  I  thought  I  saw 
some  evidence  that  I  retired  with  a  good  degree  of  public  favor, 
and  that  my  conduct  in  office  had  been  considered,  by  the  one 
party,  at  least,  with  approbation,  and  with  acquiescence  by  the 
other.  But  the  attempt  in  which  I  have  embarked  so  earnestly, 
to  procure  an  improvement  in  the  moral  condition  of  my  native 
State,  although,  perhaps,  in  other  States  it  may  have  strength- 
ened good  disposition,  it  has  assuredly  weakened  them  within 
our  own.  The  attempt  ran  foul  of  so  many  local  interests, 
of  so  many  personal  views,  and  so  much  ignorance,  and  I  have 
been  considered  as  so  particularly  its  promoter,  that  I  see  evi- 
dently a  great  change  of  sentiment  towards  myself.  I  cannot 
doubt  its  having  dissatisfied  with  myself  a  respectable  minority, 
if  not  a  majority  of  the  House  of  Delegates.  I  feel  it  deeply, 
and  very  discouragingly.  Yet  I  shall  not  give  way.  I  have 
ever  found  in  my  progress  through  life,  that,  acting  for  the 
public,  if  we  do  always  what  is  right,  the  approbation  denied 
in  the  beginning  will  surely  follow  us  in  the  end.  It  is  from 
posterity  we  are  to  expect  remuneration  for  the  services  we 
are  making  for  their  service,  of  time,  quiet  and  good  will. 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  131 

And  I  fear  not  the  appeal.  The  multitude  of  fine  young  men 
whom  we  shall  redeem  from  ignorance,  who  will  feel  that  they 
owe  to  us  the  elevation  of  mind,  of  character  and  station  they 
will  be  able  to  attain  from  the  result  of  our  efforts,  will  insure 
their  remembering  us  with  gratitude.  We  will  not,  then,  be 
'  weary  in  well  doing  ' — Usque  ad  aras  amicus  tuus" 

At  this  session  of  the  Legislature  many  members  favored 
the  removal  of  William  and  Mary  College  to  Richmond,  but 
the  friends  of  the  University,  realizing  it  might  become  a 
formidable  rival  when  nearer  and  under  organization,  fought 
the  scheme  to  its  bitter  death.  In  order  to  further  antagonize 
this  sentiment  Cabell  wrote,  January  i6th,  requesting  Mr.  Jef- 
ferson to  draw  a  bill  in  conformity  with  his  previous  suggestion 
— dividing  the  funds  of  the  College — "  and  send  it  as  quickly 
as  possible  by  the  mail." 

Mr.  Jefferson  a  week  later,  January  22nd,  forwarded  the 
requested  bill  "  most  hastily  drawn,"  whose  receipt  Cabell 
acknowledged  at  once,  saying :  "  It  will  be  a  powerful  instru- 
ment in  our  hands."  The  bill,  however,  was  never  offered, 
as  by  February  7th,  the  scheme  had  lost  nearly  all  of  its 
supporters. 

Cabell  wrote  Mr.  Jefferson,  January  3Oth,  expressing  relief 
over  the  fact  of  the  "  Competitor,"  bearing  the  three  English 
professors,  was  still  at  Plymouth  on  December  5th,  thus  re- 
lieving the  apprehension  of  the  delay  being  due  to  storms  at 
sea  and  the  possibility  of  all  being  lost.  And  again,  February 
1 8th,  he  wrote:  "Professors  Bonnycastle,  Dunglison  and 
Key  have  arrived,  and  will  leave  at  once  for  Charlottes- 
ville." 

During  the  few  preceding  months  Mr.  Jefferson  and  Cabell 
were  much  concerned  about  selecting  the  domestic  professors 
— the  latter  writing  the  former:  "  Mr.  Gilmer  (Francis  W.) 
has  a  third  time  declined  the  law  chair,  and  it  might  be  wise 
for  you  to  inquire  into  the  qualifications  of  Chancellor  Tucker 
(Henry  St.  George)" — who  finally  accepted  the  position  in 
1840. 

Mr.  Jefferson  thought  the  selection  of  text-books  should  be 
left  to  the  professors,  "  but  we  are  the  best  judges  of  the  one 
branch — government — in  which  heresies  may  be  taught  of  so 
interesting  a  character  to  our  own  State  and  Country  as  to 
make  it  our  duty  to  lay  down  the  principles  to  be  taught.  We 


132  UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA 

must  guard  against  the  dissemination  of  the  principles  of 
quondam  federalism,  now  consolidation,  among  our  youth,  and 
the  diffusion  of  that  poison,  by  a  previous  prescription  of  the 
texts  to  be  followed  in  their  discussion."  Even  Madison  ob- 
jected to  chaining  up  a  professor  to  one  set  of  books,  prefer- 
ring to  secure  an  "  orthodox  man  and  give  him  free  rein." 
But  Mr.  Jefferson  insisted  that  the  professor  of  Constitutional 
Law  must  be  one  wedded  to  republican  principles,  who  would 
expound  the  Constitution  according  to  its  writer's  (Madison) 
interpretation — that  concurred  in  by  the  State  Legislature  and 
most  Virginians.  Cabell  also  shared  this  view,  and  in  its  ob- 
servance, early  in  1824,  wrote  Mr.  Jefferson  suggesting  his 
nephew,  Chancellor  Carr,  as  the  ideal  professor  of  Law.  To 
this  Mr.  Jefferson  replied  in  a  tone,  from  the  standpoint  of 
this  generation,  that  may  seem  very  remarkable :  "  In  the 
course  of  my  trusts  I  have  exercised  through  life  with  powers 
of  appointment,  I  can  say  with  truth,  and  with  unspeakable 
comfort,  that  I  never  did  appoint  a  relation  to  office,  and  that 
merely  because  I  never  saw  the  case  in  which  some  one  did  not 
offer,  or  occur,  better  qualified ;  and  I  have  the  most  unlimited 
confidence,  that  in  the  appointment  of  professors  to  our  nurs- 
ling institution,  every  individual  of  my  associates  will  look 
with  a  single  eye  to  the  sublimation  of  its  character,  and  adopt, 
as  our  sacred  motto,  detur  digniori/  In  this  way  it  will  honor 
us,  and  bless  our  country." 

Late  in  February  (1825)  Cabell  wrote  Mr.  Jefferson:  "  It 
is  now  of  the  utmost  importance  that  we  should  succeed  at 
Washington,  as  by  the  rejection  of  the  College  measure  we 
have  added  some  very  strong  and  active  enemies  to  the  oppo- 
sition." 

The  University  was  opened,  without  special  formality,  March 
7,  1825,  having  in  attendance  sixty-eight  students,  which  in- 
creased to  about  one  hundred  during  the  year.  Gilmer,  much 
to  the  delight  of  all  University  friends,  finally  expressed  a 
willingness  to  accept  the  chair  of  Law,  and  was  appointed 
to  the  same,  August  igth.  Mr.  Jefferson,  owing  to  personal 
indisposition,  invited  the  Visitors  to  meet,  October  2~3rd,  at 
his  home,  Monticello,  where  all  business  was  transacted  and 
afterwards  attested  pro  forma  by  a  ride  to  the  University.  This 
meeting  gave  rise  to  the  first  report  after  the  opening  of  the 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  133 

institution — the  last  written  and  submitted  by  Mr.  Jefferson 
— and  dealt  largely  with  its  opening  together  with  the  several 
initiative  professors:  Long  (ancient  languages),  Blaetterman 
(modern  languages),  Key  (mathematics),  Bonny  castle  (nat- 
ural philosophy),  Dunglison  (anatomy  and  medicine),  Tucker 
(moral  philosophy)  and  Emmet  (natural  history),  who  was 
a  couple  weeks  late  in  arriving.  Gilmer  (law)  did  not  accept 
his  position  until  August  ist,  and  owing  to  serious  sickness 
and  death  never  assumed  duties,  being  succeeded  by  Lomax, 
who  entered  the  Faculty  shortly  after  the  beginning  of  the 
second  session. 

On  October  ist,  the  matriculants  had  increased  to  one  hun- 
dred and  sixteen,  and  at  the  beginning  of  the  second  session, 
February  i,  1826,  all  dormitory  accommodations — two  hun- 
dred and  eighteen — were  expected  to  be  filled.  The  report 
also  noted  progress  on  the  Rotunda  and  Anatomical  Hall, 
commented  upon  student  discipline  and  government,  and,  un- 
der Mr.  Jefferson's  signature,  concluded  thus :  "  We  have 
thought  it  peculiarly  requisite  to  leave  to  the  civil  magistrate 
the  restraint  and  punishment  of  all  offences  which  come  within 
the  ordinary  cognizance  of  the  laws.  At  the  age  of  sixteen, 
the  earliest  period  of  admission  into  the  University,  habits  of 
obedience  to  the  laws  become  a  proper  part  of  education  and 
practice;  the  minor  provisions  and  irregularities  alone,  un- 
noticed by  the  laws  of  the  land,  are  the  peculiar  subjects  of 
academic  authority.  No  system  of  these  provisions  has  ever 
yet  prevented  all  disorder.  Those  first  provided  by  this  Board 
were  founded  on  the  principles  of  avoiding  too  much  govern- 
ment, of  not  multiplying  occasions  of  coercion,  by  erecting 
indifferent  actions  into  things  of  offense,  and  for  leaving  room 
to  the  student  for  habitually  exercising  his  own  discretion; 
but  experience  has  already  proved  that  stricter  provisions  are 
necessary  for  the  preservation  of  order ;  that  coercion  must  be 
resorted  to  where  confidence  has  been  disappointed.  We  have, 
accordingly,  at  the  present  session,  considerably  amended  and 
enlarged  the  scope  of  our  former  system  of  regulations,  and 
we  shall  proceed  in  the  duties  of  tightening  or  relaxing  the 
reins  of  government,  as  experience  shall  instruct  us,  in  the 
progress  of  the  institution;  and  we  are  not  certain  that  the 
further  aid  of  the  Legislature  itself  will  not  be  necessary  to 


i34  UNIVERSITY    OF   VIRGINIA 

enable  the  authorities  of  the  institution  to  interpose,  in  some 
cases,  with  more  promptitude,  energy,  and  effect  than  is  per- 
mitted by  the  laws  as  they  stand  at  present." 

Cabell  wrote  Mr.  Jefferson,  December  7,  1825:  "I  think 
the  character  of  the  University  has  risen  exceedingly  in  the 
public  estimation  since  the  new  regulations  were  adopted. 
From  the  short  and  hasty  view  which  I  have  taken  of  the 
scene  of  legislation,  I  am  of  the  opinion  that  we  may  obtain, 
at  this  session,  the  money  necessary  to  finish  the  buildings. 
If  others  will  not  ask  for  it,  I  will  do  it  myself/' 


CHAPTER    VII 

THOMAS  JEFFERSON — DEFENDER  OF  "  EQUAL  RIGHTS  TO  ALL 

MEN" 

Mr.  Jefferson's  letter  to  Giles;  defense  against  letter  in  Enquirer,  by 
"  American  Citizen " ;  letter  to  Madison  concerning  financial  embar- 
rassment; Cabell's  continued  efforts  in  the  Legislature  for  education; 
Mr.  Jefferson's  letter  to  the  President,  John  Quincy  Adams ;  last  visit 
to  the  University;  letter  to  Weightman;  final  week,  and  death;  Madi- 
son's letter  of  condolence ;  funeral  and  burial ;  Andrew  K.  Smith's  let- 
ter recounting  his  student  days  and  recollection  of  Mr.  Jefferson's  sick- 
ness and  interment;  reflections  upon  Mr.  Jefferson's  life  and  abilities. 

MR.  JEFFERSON  wrote  Giles,  December  25,  1825 :  "  Far  ad- 
vanced in  my  eighty-third  year,  worn  down  with  infirmities 
which  have  confined  me  almost  entirely  to  the  house  for  seven 
or  eight  months  past,  it  afflicts  me  much  to  receive  appeals  to 
my  memory,  now  almost  blank,  for  transactions  so  far  back 
as  that  which  is  the  subject  of  your  letter.  However,  I  re- 
member well  the  interview  with  Mr.  Adams;  not,  indeed,  in 
the  very  words  which  passed  between  us,  but  in  their  substance, 
which  was  of  a  character  too  awful,  too  deeply  engraved  in 
my  mind,  and  influencing  too  materially  the  course  I  had  to 
pursue,  ever  to  be  forgotten.  He  called  on  me  pending  the  em- 
bargo to  further  its  appeal,  stating  that  he  had  information, 
that  certain  citizens  of  the  eastern  States  were  in  negotiation 
with  agents  of  the  British  government,  in  order  to  effect  an 
agreement  that  the  New  England  States  should  take  no 
further  part  in  the  war  then  going  on;  that  without  formally 
declaring  their  separation  from  the  Union  of  the  States,  they 
should  withdraw  from  all  aid  and  obedience  to  them;  that 
their  navigation  and  commerce  should  be  free  from  restraint 
and  interruption  by  the  British ;  that  they  should  be  considered 
and  treated  by  them  as  neutrals,  and  as  such  might  conduct 
themselves  towards  both  parties;  and  at  the  close  of  the  war, 
be  at  liberty  to  join  the  confederacy."  And  again  on  the 
following  day  he  wrote  Giles :  "  I  see,  as  you  do,  and  with 
the  deepest  affliction,  the  rapid  strides  with  which  the  federal 

135 


136  UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA 

branch  of  our  Government  is  advancing  towards  the  usurpa- 
tion of  all  the  rights  reserved  to  the  States,  and  the  consolida- 
tion in  itself  of  all  powers,  foreign  and  domestic ;  and  that  too, 
by  constructions  which,  if  legitimate,  leave  no  limit  to  their 
power.  Under  the  power  to  regulate  commerce,  they  assume 
indefinitely  that  also  over  agriculture  and  manufactures,  and 
call  it  regulation  to  take  the  earnings  of  one  of  these  branches 
of  industry,  and  that  too,  the  most  depressed,  and  put  them 
into  the  pockets  of  the  other,  the  most  flourishing  of  all.  And 
what  is  the  resource  for  the  preservation  of  the  Constitution? 
Reason  and  argument?  You  might  as  well  reason  and  argue 
with  the  marble  columns  encircling  them.  Are  we  then  to  stand 
to  our  arms,  with  the  hot-headed  Georgian?  No.  That  must 
be  the  last  resource,  not  to  be  thought  of  until  much  longer 
and  greater  suffering.  We  must  have  patience  and  longer  en- 
durance then  with  our  brethren  while  under  delusion;  give 
them  time  for  reflection  and  experience  of  consequences ;  keep 
ourselves  in  a  situation  to  profit  by  the  chapter  of  accidents; 
and  separate  from  our  companions  only  when  the  sole  alterna- 
tives left,  are  the  dissolution  of  our  Union  with  them,  or  sub- 
mission to  a  government  without  limitation  of  powers.  But 
this  opens  with  a  vast  accession  of  strength  from  their  younger 
recruits,  who,  having  nothing  in  them  of  the  feelings  or  princi- 
ples of  '76,  now  look  to  a  single  and  splendid  government  of 
an  aristocracy,  founded  on  banking  institutions,  and  monied 
incorporations  under  the  guise  and  cloak  of  their  favored 
branches  of  manufactures,  commerce  and  navigation,  riding 
and  ruling  over  the  plundered  ploughman  and  beggared  yeo- 
manry. This  will  be  to  them  a  next  best  blessing  to  the 
monarchy  of  their  first  aim,  and  perhaps  the  surest  stepping 
stone  to  it.  I  learn  with  great  satisfaction  that  your  school  is 
thriving  well,  and  that  you  have  at  its  head  a  truly  classical 
scholar.  He  is  one  of  three  or  four  whom  I  can  hear  of  in  our 
State.  We  were  obliged  last  year  to  receive  shameful  Latin- 
ists  into  the  classical  school  of  the  University ;  such  as  we  will 
certainly  refuse  as  soon  as  we  can  get  from  better  schools  a 
sufficiency  of  those  properly  instructed  to  form  a  class.  We 
must  get  rid  of  this  Connecticut  Latin,  of  the  barbarous  con- 
fusion of  long  and  short  syllables,  which  renders  doubtful 
whether  we  are  listening  to  a  reader  of  Cherokee,  Shawnee, 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  137 

Iroquois,  or  what.  Our  University  has  been  most  fortunate 
in  the  five  professors  procured  from  England — a  finer  selection 
could  not  have  been  made.  Besides  their  being  of  a  grade  of 
science  which  has  left  little  superior  behind,  the  correctness  of 
their  moral  character,  their  accommodating  dispositions,  and 
zeal  for  the  prosperity  of  the  institution,  leave  us  nothing  more 
to  wish.  I  verily  believe  that  as  high  a  degree  of  education 
can  be  obtained  here  as  in  the  country  they  left.  And  a  finer 
set  of  youths  I  never  saw  assembled  for  instruction.  They 
committed  some  irregularities  at  first,  until  they  learned  the 
lawful  length  of  their  tether;  since  which  it  has  never  been 
transgressed  in  the  smallest  degree.  A  great  proportion  of 
them  are  severely  devoted  to  study,  and  I  fear  not  to  say,  that 
within  twelve  or  fifteen  years  from  this  time,  a  majority  of 
the  rulers  of  our  State  will  have  been  educated  here.  They 
shall  carry  hence  the  correct  principles  of  our  day,  and  you  may 
count  assuredly  that  they  will  exhibit  their  country  in  a  degree 
of  sound  respectability  it  has  never  known,  either  in  our  day 
or  those  of  our  forefathers.  I  cannot  live  to  see  it.  My  joy 
must  only  be  that  of  anticipation — you  may  see  its  full  fruition, 
owing  to  the  twenty  years  I  am  ahead  of  you  in  time." 

Mr.  Jefferson,  February  7,  1826,  wrote  Cabell  of  his  great 
mortification  over  the  articles  in  the  Enquirer ',  by  "  American 
Citizen,"  purporting  a  familiar  talk  at  Monticello  about  his 
method  of  obtaining  money  from  the  Legislature — not  in  a 
lump  sum,  but  in  small  amounts,  and  his  jocose  reply:  "  No 
one  likes  to  have  more  than  one  hot  potato  at  a  time  crammed 
down  his  throat.  He  makes  me  declare  that  I  have  intention- 
ally proceeded  in  a  course  of  dupery  of  our  Legislature,  teas- 
ing them,  as  he  makes  me  say,  for  six  or  seven  sessions  for 
successive  aids  to  the  University,  and  asking  a  part  only  at  a 
time,  and  intentionally  concealing  the  ultimate  cost,  and  gives 
an  inexact  statement  of  a  story  of  Obrian.  Now,  our  annual 
reports  will  show  that  we  constantly  gave  full  and  candid  ac- 
counts of  the  money  expended,  and  statements  of  what  might 
still  be  wanting,  founded  on  the  Proctor's  estimates.  No  man 
ever  heard  me  speak  of  the  grants  of  the  Legislature  but  with 
acknowledgments  of  their  liberality,  which  I  have  always  de- 
clared had  gone  far  beyond  what  I  could  have  expected  in 
the  beginning.  Yet  the  letter  writer  has  given  to  my  expres- 


138  UNIVERSITY    OF   VIRGINIA 

sions  an  aspect  disrespectful  of  the  Legislature,  and  calculated 
to  give  them  offence,  which  I  do  absolutely  disavow." 

In  spite  of  this  denial,  the  suggestion  was  so  applicable, 
that  many  in  a  spirit  of  resentment,  continued  to  hold  it  against 
Mr.  Jefferson  and  the  fortunes  of  the  University — that  which 
was  very  evident  in  the  Legislature  the  remainder  of  that 
session.  On  February  i/th,  he  wrote  Madison:  "Imme- 
diately on  seeing  the  overwhelming  vote  of  the  House  of  Rep- 
resentatives against  giving  us  another  dollar,  I  rode  to  the 
University  and  desired  Mr.  Brockenbrough  to  engage  in 
nothing  new,  to  stop  everything  on  hand  which  could  be  done 
without,  and  to  employ  all  his  force  and  funds  in  finishing 
the  circular  room  for  the  books,  and  the  Anatomical  theater, 
both  being  indispensable.  There  have  arrived  twenty-five 
boxes  of  books  from  Paris,  London  and  Germany,  and  must 
await  until  May  their  shelving.  In  the  selection  of  our  Law 
Professor,  we  must  be  rigorously  attentive  to  his  political 
principles.  You  will  recollect,  that  before  the  Revolution, 
Coke  Littleton  was  the  universal  elementary  book  of  law  stu- 
dents, and  a  sounder  whig  never  wrote,  nor  of  profounder 
learning  in  the  orthodox  doctrines  of  the  British  constitution, 
or  in  what  were  called  English  liberties.  You  remember  also 
that  our -lawyers  were  then  all  whigs.  But  when  his  black- 
letter  text,  and  uncouth  but  cunning  learning  got  out  of 
fashion,  and  the  honied  Mansfieldism  of  Blackstone  became 
the  students'  hornbook,  from  that  moment,  that  profession  (the 
nursery  of  our  Congress)  began  to  slide  into  toryism,  and 
nearly  all  the  young  brood  of  lawyers  now  are  of  that  hue. 
They  suppose  themselves,  indeed,  to  be  whigs,  because  they 
no  longer  know  what  whigism  or  republicanism  means.  It  is 
in  our  seminary  that  the  vestal  flame  is  to  be  kept  alive ;  it  is 
thence  to  be  spread  anew  over  our  own  and  the  sister  States. 
If  we  are  true  and  vigilant  in  our  trust,  within  a  dozen  or 
twenty  years  a  majority  of  our  own  legislature  will  be  from 
our  school,  and  many  disciples  will  have  carried  its  doctrines 
home  with  them  in  their  several  States,  and  will  have  leavened 
thus  the  whole  mass. 

"  You  will  have  seen  in  the  newspapers  some  proceedings  in 
the  Legislature,  which  have  cost  me  much  mortification.  My 
own  debts  had  become  considerable,  but  not  beyond  the  effect 


UNIVERSITY    OF   VIRGINIA  139 

of  some  lopping  of  property,  which  would  have  been  little 
felt,  when  our  friend  gave  me  the  coup  de  grace.  Ever  since 
that  I  have  been  paying  twelve  hundred  dollars  a  year  interest 
on  his  debt,  which,  with  my  own,  was  absorbing  so  much  of 
my  annual  income,  as  that  the  maintenance  of  my  family  was 
making  deep  and  rapid  inroads  on  my  capital,  and  had  already 
done  it.  Had  crops  and  prices  for  several  years  been  such  as 
to  maintain  a  steady  competition  of  substantial  bidders  at  mar- 
ket all  would  have  been  safe.  If  it  is  permitted  in  my  case  to 
sell  my  lands,  etc.,  by  lottery,  those  here  alone  will  pay  every- 
thing, and  leave  me  Monticello  and  a  farm  free.  If  refused  I 
must  sell  everything  here,  perhaps  considerably  in  Bedford, 
move  thither  with  my  family,  where  I  have  not  even  a  log  hut 
to  put  my  head  into,  and  whether  ground  for  burial,  will 
depend  on  the  depredations  which  under  the  form  of  sales, 
shall  have  been  committed  on  my  property.  But  why  afflict 
you  with  these  details?  Indeed,  I  cannot  tell,  unless  pains 
are  lessened  by  communication  with  a  friend.  The  friendship 
which  has  subsisted  between  us,  now  half  a  century,  and  the 
harmony  of  our  political  principles  and  pursuits,  have  been 
sources  of  constant  happiness  to  me  through  that  long  period. 
And  if  I  remove  beyond  the  reach  of  attentions  to  the  Univer- 
sity, or  beyond  the  bourne  of  life  itself,  as  I  soon  must,  it  is  a 
comfort  to  leave  that  institution  under  your  care,  and  an 
assurance  that  it  will  not  be  wanting.  It  has  also  been  a  great 
solace  to  me,  to  believe  that  you  are  engaged  in  vindicating 
to  posterity  the  course  we  have  pursued  for  preserving  to  them, 
in  all  their  purity,  the  blessings  of  self-government,  which  we 
had  assisted  too  in  acquiring  for  them.  If  ever  the  earth  has 
beheld  a  system  of  administration  conducted  with  a  single 
and  steadfast  eye  to  the  general  interest  and  happiness  of  those 
committed  to  it,  one  which,  protected  by  truth,  can  never  know 
reproach,  it  is  that  to  which  our  lives  have  been  devoted.  To 
myself  you  have  been  a  pillar  of  support  through  life.  Take 
care  of  me  when  dead,  and  be  assured  that  I  shall  leave  with 
you  my  last  affections." 

Cabell  during  the  remainder  of  the  legislative  session  ( 1825) 
was  much  interested  in  advancing  Mr.  Jefferson's  bill  of  1817- 
18,  in  so  far  as  it  pertained  to  intermediate  education,  or  the 
establishment  of  nine  Colleges.  For  these  he  thought  the  idea 


140  UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA 

of  making  the  districts  give  the  land  very  popular,  "  as  then 
we  can  give  twenty-five  thousand  dollars  to  the  University, 
and  a  salary  of  five  hundred  dollars  to  each  college.  I  like 
the  idea  of  having  one  near  the  University,  as  a  preparatory 
school." 

All  of  this  Mr.  Jefferson  heartily  favored,  writing,  February, 
1 4th :  "  Wait  not  a  moment,  but  drive  at  once  the  nail  which 
you  find  will  go."  A  week  later,  February  2Oth,  Cabell  wrote 
Mr.  Jefferson,  that  the  bill  granting  a  lottery  for  the  dis- 
posal of  his  property  had  passed,  and  that  he  himself  had  pre- 
pared an  amendatory  act  relative  to  the  Colleges,  which  he 
feared  would  not  pass  owing  to  the  lateness  of  the  session. 

Mr.  Jefferson,  March  3Oth,  wrote  the  President — Johru 
Quincy  Adams :  "I  am  thankful  for  the  very  interesting 
message  and  documents  of  which  you  have  been  so  kind  as  to 
send  me  a  copy,  and  will  state  my  recollections  as  to  the  par- 
ticular passage  of  the  message  to  which  you  ask  my  attention.! 
The  stipulations  making  part  of  these  instructions,  which  re- 
spected privateering,  blockades,  contraband,  and  freedom  of 
the  fisheries,  were  not  original  conceptions  of  mine,  but  of 
Dr.  Franklin.  I  happened  only  to  have  been  the  inserter  of 
them  in  the  first  public  act  which  gave  the  formal  sanction! 
of  a  public  authority.  We  accordingly  proposed  our  treaties, 
containing  these  stipulations,  to  the  principal  governments  of 
Europe." 

Mr.  Jefferson's  last  circular,  April  2ist,  informed  the  Vis- 
itors that  Mr.  William  Wert  had  declined  the  Presidency  of 
the  University,  as  well  as  the  Professorship  of  Law,  but 
that  Mr.  Lomax  had  accepted  the  latter  and  would  begin  in- 
struction on  July  ist. 

From  the  issuance  of  this  circular  Mr.  Jefferson  only  lived 
two  and  a  half  months,  but,  in  spite  of  infirmities  of  age  and 
sickness,  he  continued  his  frequent  rides  to  the  University,  to 
within  a  few  weeks  of  his  death,  in  order  to  keep  in  touch 
with  all  matters,  to  see  the  professors,  the  proctor,  the  librarian, 
and  the  progress  made  on  the  Rotunda.  The  exterior  of  this 
was  about  completed,  except  its  beautiful  front  portico,  and 
upon  this  workmen  were  engaged  actively  all  during  the 
summer,  so  that  when  he  made  his  final  trip  he  slowly  ascended 
the  winding  steps  to  the  library  floor,  where  he  stood  and 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  141 

gazed  through  the  center  window — that  which  many  of  us 
students  often  repeated,  after  hearing  from  Mr.  Wertenbaker 
the  episode.  It  was  here  that  Mr.  Wertenbaker  observed  him 
watching  the  various  mechanics  and  hastened  to  him  from  the 
library  room  with  a  chair  which  he  accepted  for  nearly  an 
hour,  during  which  he  witnessed  the  first  marble  capital  lifted 
to  the  top  of  its  pillar  on  the  southwest  corner.  That  accom- 
plished, he  journeyed  home  in  contentment  little  conscious 
that  he  would  never  return.  But  the  child  was  well-born, 
healthy,  of  the  right  material,  and  could  thrive  without  its 
parent.  He  had  nurtured  it  near  unto  maturity  and  had  an 
abiding  faith  of  it  thriving  in  others'  hands — bringing  to  him- 
self abundant  reward,  to  itself  unbounded  credit,  and  to  the 
world  imperishable  light. 

Mr.  Jefferson  wrote  his  last  published  letter,  June  24th, 
to  Mr.  Weightman :  "  The  kind  invitation  I  received  from  you, 
on  the  part  of  the  citizens  of  the  city  of  Washington,  to  be 
present  with  them  at  their  celebration  on  the  fiftieth  anni- 
versary of  American  Independence,  as  one  of  the  surviving 
signers  of  that  instrument  pregnant  with  our  own,  and  the 
fate  of  the  world,  is  most  flattering  to  myself,  and  heightened 
by  the  honorable  accompaniment  proposed  for  the  comfort  of 
such  a  journey.  It  adds  sensibly  to  the  sufferings  of  sickness, 
to  be  deprived  by  it  of  a  personal  participation  in  the  rejoic- 
ings of  that  day.  I  would  have  been  delighted  to  have  met  the 
remnant  of  that  host  of  worthies,  who  joined  with  us  on  that 
day,  in  the  bold  and  doubtful  election  we  were  to  make  for 
our  country,  between  submission  or  the  sword  and  to  have 
enjoyed  with  them  the  consolatory  fact,  that  our  fellow  citi- 
zens, after  half  a  century  of  experience  and  prosperity,  continue 
to  approve  the  choice  we  made.  May  it  be  to  the  world,  what 
I  believe  it  will  be  (to  some  parts  sooner,  to  others  later,  but 
finally  to  all),  the  signal  of  arousing  men  to  burst  the  chains 
under  which  monkish  ignorance  and  superstition  had  per- 
suaded them  to  bind  themselves,  and  to  assume  the  blessings 
and  security  of  self-government.  That  form  which  we  have 
substituted,  restores  the  free  right  to  the  unbounded  exercise 
of  reason  and  freedom  of  opinion.  The  general  spread  of  the 
light  of  science  has  already  laid  open  to  every  view  the  pal- 
pable truth,  that  the  mass  of  mankind  has  not  been  born  with 


142  UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA 

saddles  on  their  backs  nor  a  favored  few  booted  and  spurred, 
ready  to  ride  them  legitimately,  by  the  grace  of  God/' 

Mr.  Jefferson  passed  away,  Tuesday,  July  4th,  at  12.50 
o'ck.  p.  M.,  having  retained,  until  two  hours  previous,  perfect 
consciousness.  During  the  last  few  days  he  spoke  freely  of 
his  approaching  death,  discussed  and  arranged  as  best  he  could 
all  private  affairs,  and  expressed  anxiety  for  the  prosperity  of 
the  University,  which,  however,  he  believed  absolutely  safe  in 
the  hands  of  Mr.  Madison  and  the  other  Visitors.  Pathetic- 
ally he  spoke  of  Mr.  Madison's  virtue,  purity,  wisdom,  learn- 
ing, and  great  abilities,  and  then  stretching  his  head  back  on 
the  pillow,  with  a  sigh,  exclaimed :  "  But  oh !  he  could  never 
in  his  life  stand  up  against  strenuous  opposition."  From  youth 
on,  they  had  resided  in  close  proximity,  visited  frequently, 
consulted  and  advised  each  other,  and  enjoyed  an  unbroken 
friendship  kindred  to  love.  Several  days  after  the  sad  event, 
Mr.  Madison  wrote  a  member  of  Mr.  Jefferson's  family :  "  But 
we  are  more  than  consoled  by  the  assurance  that  he  lives  and 
will  live  in  the  memory  and  gratitude  of  the  wise  and  good, 
as  a  luminary  of  science,  as  a  votary  of  liberty,  as  a  model  of 
patriotism,  and  as  a  benefactor  of  the  human  kind.  In  these 
characters  I  have  known  him,  and  not  less  in  the  virtues  and 
charms  of  social  life,  for  a  period  of  fifty  years,  during  which 
there  was  not  an  interruption  or  diminution  of  mutual  confi- 
dence and  cordial  friendship  for  a  single  moment  in  a  single 
instance." 

Mr.  Jefferson  was  buried  in  the  family  graveyard  between 
his  wife  and  daughter  Mary,  while  the  eldest  daughter,  Martha, 
was  placed  ten  years  later  at  the  head  of  these  three  graves. 

Professor  Tucker  in  his  life  of  Mr.  Jefferson  states  that: 
"  The  funeral  was  modest  and  unpretending  as  he  had  directed. 
It  took  place  on  the  afternoon  of  the  5th.  The  day  was  rainy, 
and  many  from  distant  parts  of  the  country,  who  might  have 
been  disposed  to  pay  this  last  tribute  of  respect,  were  thereby 
prevented.  The  number,  however,  who  did  attend,  was  con- 
siderable." 

An  account  of  much  greater  detail  came  to  my  notice  while 
a  student,  in  the  fall  of  1875,  shortly  after  the  death  of 
Thomas  Jefferson  Randolph,  which  I  then  took  from  The 
Chronicle  (Charlottesville) — a  paper  I  saw  in  those  days 


Ss 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  143 

every  week,  and  continued  to  subscribe  to  years  afterwards. 
The  article  is  headed,  JEFFERSON,  and  is  in  part:  "Mr. 
Andrew  K.  Smith,  of  the  General  Land  Office,  having  noticed 
the  death  of  Col.  Thomas  Jefferson  Randolph,  of  Virginia, 
sends  the  Washington  Republican  the  following  interesting 
personal  remembrances  of  the  deceased  and  of  Jefferson.  They 
constitute  a  valuable  contribution  to  the  current  literature  of 
the  day. 

I  well  remember  the  last  time  I  saw  him,  in  the  sum- 
mer of  1826.  He  was  then  a  tall,  fine-looking  person,  about 
thirty-five  years  of  age.  It  was  at  Monticello,  the  residence 
of  his  grandfather,  the  immortal  Thomas  Jefferson,  and  the 
singular  circumstances  attending  the  funeral  of  the  latter  is 
fresh  in  my  memory.  Nearly  fifty  years  have  elapsed  since 
then,  and  the  greater  portion  of  those  present  at  the  burial 
having  passed  to  their  reward,  I  have  thought  I  would  give 
you  and  the  readers  of  your  valuable  paper  the  benefit  of  the 
recollections  of  my  younger  days,  should  you  think  them 
worthy  of  publication.  Mr.  Jefferson  had  been  for  some  time 
confined  to  his  house,  and  about  the  ist.  of  July,  1826,  the  sad 
news  was  brought  to  Charlottesville  and  the  University  of 
Virginia  that  Dr.  Dunglison,  professor  of  medicine  .at  the 
University  and  Mr.  Jefferson's  family  physician,  had  pro- 
nounced his  case  a  hopeless  one.  You  may  imagine  the  grief 
of  his  old  friends  about  Charlottesville  who  had  known  him 
from  youth  to  old  age,  and  of  the  students  of  the  University, 
who  truly  admired  and  respected  him  as  the  Rector  of  their 
Alma  Mater.  On  the  3rd  of  that  month  the  doctor,  having 
stated  that  his  illustrious  patient  was  calmly  yet  fast  sinking, 
was  importuned  to  try  his  skill  to  prolong  his  life  at  least 
until  the  next  day,  that  he  might  see  the  sun  rise  upon  the  fif- 
tieth anniversary  of  the  day  when  he  framed  the  Declaration 
of  Independence.  All  was  done  that  care  and  skill  could  do, 
but  about  i  o'ck,  p.  M.,  on  the  4th,  while  the  cannons  were 
booming  around  us,  we  were  notified  by  the  tolling  of  the 
courthouse  bell,  that  the  spirit  of  the  author  of  the  Declaration 
of  Independence  had  taken  its  flight  from  its  tenement  of  clay. 
The  time  for  the  funeral  was  fixed  for  5  o'ck,  p.  M.  6th,  and  it 
was  arranged  that  the  procession  should  form  on  the  court- 
house square  at  4  o'ck,  but  a  difference  of  opinion  arose  as  to 


144  UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA 

whether  the  citizens  or  the  students  were  entitled  to  the  right 
of  the  procession,  and  much  time  was  lost,  and  several  of  us, 
becoming  tired  of  the  discussion,  turned  our  horses'  heads  to 
the  mountain.  On  arriving  at  the  cemetery,  we  found  that  the 
coffin  had  been  removed  from  the  house  and  was  resting  on 
narrow  planks  placed  across  the  grave,  with  a  view  of  enabling 
the  greater  number  expected  to  have  a  better  opportunity  of 
seeing  it.  Ex-Governor  Thomas  Mann  Randolph,  son-in-law 
of  the  deceased,  stood  at  the  head  of  the  grave,  and  his  son, 
Thomas  Jefferson  Randolph,  at  the  foot.  Soon  after  the  Re?/. 
Mr.  Hatch,  of  the  Episcopal  Church,  made  his  appearance,  and, 
supposing  they  were  waiting  him,  as  is  customary  with  the 
usage  of  that  church,  commenced  the  service  at  the  gate  of 
the  cemetery,  reading  as  he  walked  to  the  grave.  Mr.  Ran- 
dolph, Sr.  (who  was  not  on  good  terms  with  Mr.  Jefferson) 
thought  it  the  duty  of  his  son  to  inform  the  clergyman  that 
they  were  awaiting  the  arrival  of  the  citizens,  professors,  and 
students,  and  his  son  deeming  it  the  duty  of  the  father  to  do 
so,  kept  silent,  and  the  services  went  on  to  the  close  of  the 
same.  The  grave  was  filled  up,  and  the  thirty  or  forty  persons 
who  witnessed  the  interment  started  for  home,  and  met  the 
procession,  numbering  about  fifteen  hundred  persons,  coming 
up  the  mountain.  They  were  sorely  disappointed,  and,  in  some 
cases  angered  at  the  report  we  made,  and  were  only  satisfied 
when  the  explanation  was  made  the  next  day  in  the  Charlottes- 
ville  Advocate.  Among  the  students  present  at  the  funeral,  I 
recollect  seeing  Edgar  Allan  Poe,  a  high  minded  and  'honor- 
able young  man,  though  easily  persuaded  to  his  wrong;  also 
Robert  M.  T.  Hunter,  of  Virginia,  and  Colonel  John  S.  Pres- 
ton, of  South  Carolina.  I  believe  the  last  two  persons  are  still 
alive." 

Although  this  sketch  of  Mr.  Jefferson  is  intended. simply  to 
outline  the  chief  activities  of  his  long  and  eventful  life,  espe- 
cially emphasizing  his  connection  with  education  and  the  Uni- 
versity of  Virginia,  yet  a  few  supplementary  thoughts  con- 
cerning his  principles,  his  position,  and  his  power  upon  man- 
kind may  even  here  be  pardonable.  For  forty  years  he  was 
in  public  service,  measuring  up  beyond  reasonable  criticism 
to  every  expected  duty,  so  that  whether  in  the  house  of  bur- 
gesses, continental  congress,  congress,  executive  mansion  of 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  145 

his  State,  minister  to  France,  Secretary  of  State,  Vice-Presi- 
dent, or  President,  the  same  concordant  expression  was  uni- 
versal, "  well  done,  thou  good  and  faithful  servant."  During 
this  tenure  of  office  he  was  in  a  continued  process  of  evolution 
from  one  position  to  another — resigning  some,  declining 
others,  always  acting,  as  he  conceived,  for  the  best  interest  of 
his  country  and  his  people.  Certainly  he  lived  in  the  most 
crucial  period  of  the  Nation's  history — its  formative  age — 
when  wisdom,  judgment,  knowledge,  foresight  and  hindsight 
were  all  needed,  indeed  imperative,  for  launching  safely  the 
new  empire;  when  ignorance,  superstition,  intolerance,  dis- 
organization and  dissatisfaction  were  at  their  height — from 
which  happily  we  have  ever  since  gradually  and  safely  been 
drifting;  when  willing  and  capable  hands  were  rare,  and  honor- 
able purposes  and  enactments  so  likely  to  be  perverted  by  the 
low  and  mercenary. 

At  every  opportunity  he  strongly  asserted  himself  for  right, 
irrespective  of  those  it  hit  or  missed — sacrificing  if  necessary, 
though  often  with  bitter  pangs,  friend  and  foe  alike,  that  the 
general  good  might  be  served.  He  had  pronounced  views  and 
convictions,  those  formed  usually  upon  careful  thought,  read- 
ing, observation  and  comparison,  but  in  spite  of  this  he  was 
neither  dogmatic  nor  arrogant  in  opinion  and  action,  as  he 
was  ready  always  to  entertain,  weigh-well  and  profit  by  the  wis- 
dom of  others.  Once  convinced,  however,  he  seldom  changed 
— simply  held  quietly  and  firmly  to  his  thoroughly  digested 
conclusions.  As  such,  he  was  ripe  for  the  times  and  the  times 
ripe  for  him,  consequently  he  arose  to  be  one  of  the  strongest 
advocates  for  knowledge,  religious  harmony  and  toleration, 
universal  supremacy  of  organization,  reason,  sense  and  justice, 
and  in  doing  that,  without  any  personal  preference,  became  the 
leading  champion  of  certain  principles,  and  therefore  the  great 
target  for  those  with  whom  he  differed.  By  his  acts  and 
doctrines,  both  his  defenders  and  defamers  have  endeavored 
seemingly  to  justify  their  relative  positions;  for  his,  like  all 
systems  of  philosophy,  contained  slight  ambiguities,  sufficient 
to  create  in  the  willing  mis-conceptions  and  mis-interpreta- 
tions. It  has  been  a  century  since  he  controlled  the  pulse  of 
this  great  Republic,  the  period  of  his  strongest  influence — 
years  that  have  carried  poorly  in  sacred  memory  many  of 


146  UNIVERSITY    OF   VIRGINIA 

the  then  reigning  satellites — but  as  we  look  at  him  through  this 
long  vista  little  of  his  individuality  seems  to  have  been  lost — 
"  Thomas  Jefferson  still  lives." 

Why  this  lasting  impress  or  perpetuity?  Is  it  because  he 
was  a  simple  minded  and  ingenuous  demagogue,  with  a  super- 
ficial learning  and  philosophy,  lacking  sincereness  and  truth- 
fulness, possessing  a  pusillanimous  and  morbid  terror  of  pop- 
ular censure  and  an  insatiable  thirst  for  popular  praise? 
For  all  of  these  and  much  more  his  traducers  have  affirmed 
many  times  against  him.  "Be  sure  your  sins  will  find  you  out," 
would  never  have  missed  an  application  to  him,  had  he  pos- 
sessed the  many  claimed.  As  one  of  his  worthy  successors 
wisely  said :  "  You  can  fool  some  people  all  the  time,  all  the 
people  some  time,  but  never  all  the  people  all  the  time."  Had 
he  been  the  demon  his  enemies  alleged,  would  not  in  life  his 
popularity  have  waned  rather  than  increased,  and  in  death  the 
plaudits  of  the  intelligent  world  been  withheld?  Against  his 
enemies  he  only  said :  "  I  have  not  considered  them  as  abus- 
ing me:  they  have  never  known  me.  They  have  created  an 
imaginary  being  clothed  with  odious  attributes,  to  whom  they 
have  given  my  name;  and  it  is  against  that  creature  of  their 
imagination  they  have  levelled  their  anathemas."  Surely  his 
recognition  and  following  came  not  through  an  invincible 
tongue — he  was  no  Demosthenes  or  Webster — for  oratory- 
was  not  his  gift;  he  even  could  not  make  an  effective  speech, 
long  or  short,  and  never  did ;  he  was  no  loud  talker,  proclaim- 
ing his  knowledge  and  dogmas  whenever  opportunity  pre- 
sented; nor  was  he  a  witty,  facetious  conversationalist  that 
appeals  to  most  persons.  On  the  contrary  he  was  serious,  re- 
served and  retiring,  the  very  last  of  all  to  force  opinions  where 
and  when  unsought;  nor  was  he  imperious,  self-centered, 
haughty  or  conceited — qualities  that  frequently  count  for  some- 
thing. He  even  neglected  to  accept  all  the  honors  due  him, 
preferring  to  direct  others  discreetly  in  things  he  might  easily 
have  accomplished  himself,  thus  permitting  them  to  share  the 
entire  reward.  Was  he  shrewd,  smart,  clever  and  bright  in 
the  sense  we  to-day  usually  apply  those  attributes,  making 
good  all  in  one's  composition  tending  towards  material  profit  ? 
Did  he  live  alone  for  self  and  the  present,  bending  everything 
for  his  individual  advantage  and  his  immediate  generation's 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  147 

gain?  Oh  no!  He  was  a  man  far  removed  from  this,  and, 
whatever  may  have  been  in  the  past,  no  careful  and  liberal  stu- 
dent of  to-day,  in  the  light  of  accessible  facts,  can  reach  other 
than  the  one  conclusion — that  he  was  a  man  of  exceptional 
learning  and  greatness,  whose  power  and  influence  during  our 
Nation's  formative  period  stood  second  only  to  Washington's, 
whose  will  and  word  later  in  life  took  the  first  position,  dom- 
inating absolutely  political  sentiment  and  principles,  and  whose 
creeds  now,  generations  after  death,  furnish  the  most  accept- 
able doctrines  to  the  great  majority,  who  gladly  extol  him  as 
the  greatest  prophet  of  national  government  and  wisest  ex- 
pounder of  human  rights  the  world  has  ever  known. 

But  this  was  simply  his  political  side,  that  through  which 
the  millions  reckon  his  chief  worth  and  merit — a  side  Mr. 
Jefferson  never  thought  he  possessed,  for  he  did  not  consider 
himself  a  politician,  but  only  an  expounder  and  advocate  of 
right  and  justice  to  all  alike,  preference  and  favor  to  none. 
Beyond  this,  however,  stands  in  exceptional  brightness  his 
life-work  for  the  general  "  diffusion  of  knowledge  and  re- 
ligious toleration "  throughout  the  land.  Himself  a  free 
and  liberal  thinker,  he  felt  it  a  humane  duty  to  enlighten 
others  to  become  likewise;  himself  educated,  he  desired  all 
others  to  share  the  inestimable  blessing,  according  to  indi- 
vidual capacity  and  need,  believing  this  latter  the  only  key 
for  unlocking  the  former.  Thus  he  wrote,  February  15,  1821 : 
"  Nobody  can  doubt  my  zeal  for  the  general  instruction  of 
the  people.  Who  first  started  that  idea?  I  may  surely  say, 
myself.  Turn  to  the  bill,  in  the  revised  code,  which  I  drew 
more  than  forty  years  ago,  before  which  the  idea  of  a  plan 
for  the  education  of  the  people,  generally,  had  never  been 
suggested  in  the  State,  and  there  you  will  see  developed  the 
first  rudiments  of  the  whole  system  of  general  education  we 
are  now  urging  and  acting  on." 

Only  think  of  the  then  prevailing  indifference  to  the  sub- 
ject— that  he  should  have  labored  passively  for  forty  years 
to  enlighten  his  people,  with  little  or  no  effect,  and  actively 
another  ten  before,  happily,  he  saw  the  dawn.  And  yet  he 
was  reconciled  and  satisfied  in  delay — for  he  had  at  last 
founded  what  he  believed  destined  to  become  a  great  educa- 
tional center — his  cherished  University. 


148  UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA 

Mr.  Jefferson  like  most  martyrs  to  a  cause  or  creed — hoped 
against  hope.  Too  sadly  and  seriously  he  realized  the  world's 
complement  of  conspirators,  fools,  hypocrites  and  knaves; 
that  human  nature  was  not  exempt  from  duplicity,  selfishness, 
ingratitude,  vanity  and  treachery  in  their  manifold  forms 
and  disguises;  that  even  the  sanctity  of  the  church  was  per- 
verted frequently  in  a  service  for  individual  gain;  and  that 
while  our  mental  endowments  indicate  the  highest  type  of 
God's  creation — a  likeness  unto  himself — yet  our  appetites, 
propensities  and  passions  often  remove  us  but  slightly  from 
the  brute  and  lower  animal  forms.  His  only  hope  for  a  partial 
redemption  of  his  people  from  these  weaknesses,  lay  in  edu- 
cation, religious  and  political  freedom,  and  the  domestic 
serenity  of  agricultural  pursuits — aloof  from  congested  mul- 
titudes, where  vice,  evil  and  immoral  purposes  have  best 
opportunity  to  thrive.  Thus  he  said :  "  Those  who  labor  in 
the  earth  are  the  chosen  people  of  God."  Our  country,  as  well 
as  others,  seemingly  at  present  inclines  to  move  in  the  oppo- 
site direction — away  from  farm  life  to  that  of  the  city,  to 
concentrate  and  combine  in  every  line  of  industry,  to  make  the 
small  minority  financial  kings,  the  great  majority  indigent 
artisans  and  peasants,  but  in  spite  of  this  tendency  the  world 
is  said  to  be  growing  better — certainly  an  anomaly,  if  Mr. 
Jefferson's  doctrine  be  true.  The  fact  is  that  his  beliefs, 
hopes  and  predictions  have  not  all  been  realized  or  verified, 
nor,  it  may  be  said  with  equal  truth,  have  they  had  fair 
chance  and  trial.  Thus  he  thought  that  twenty-four  years 
of  continuous  Republican  supremacy — administrations 'of  him- 
self, Madison  and  Monroe — and  others  most  likely  to  follow 
in  course  of  time,  with  their  self-apparent  benefits,  would 
eclipse,  and  possibly  destroy  finally,  the  seeds  of  Federalism, 
provided  the  people,  plain  and  otherwise,  could  through  edu- 
cation— hence  one  of  his  great  objects  therefor — be  made  to 
understand  and  appreciate  the  ultimate  and  universal  ad- 
vantage centered  in  his  political  doctrines.  From  no  fault 
of  his,  as  history  was  his  teacher,  he  failed  to  gauge  our 
country  aright,  never  conceiving  the  enormous  strides  it  was 
destined  to  take  within  a  single  century — that  only  expected 
of  a  dozen  or  more.  Nor  had  he  the  slightest  conception  that 
emigration  would  develop  to  any  great  proportions;  or  that 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  149 

so  many  States  would  soon  follow  Virginia's  example,  only 
with  increased  liberality,  in  establishing  each  its  own  Uni- 
versity ;  or  that  the  wealth  and  resources  of  our  country  would 
quickly  become  so  enormous  as  to  justify  many  individuals 
endowing  and  creating  private  institutions  with  untold  mil- 
lions, only  to  prove  formidable  competitors  of  his  own  favor- 
ite child,  teaching  the  very  principles  that  enabled  the  accu- 
mulation of  these  fortunes,  therefore  their  own  existence — 
policies  he  so  thoroughly  detested  and  strove  hard  to  combat. 
No  one  can  predict  accurately  the  future  of  our  country 
— whether  its  permanency,  and  the  preservation  of  the  spirit, 
"  the  greatest  good  to  the  greatest  number,"   would  have 
better  been  assured  by  moving  slowly  along  conservative  lines, 
in  keeping  with  the  past,  present,  and  likely  future  of  foreign 
nations  known  to  Mr.  Jefferson,  from  which  he  caught  much 
of  his  inspiration  and  thought,  or  to  have  advanced  rapidly 
and  radically,  as  certainly  we  have,  beyond  the  bounds  of  all 
precedent.    Time  alone  will  reveal  and  then  only  problematic- 
ally.    But  "  Thomas  Jefferson  still  lives,"  in  spite  of  some 
unpopular  doctrines  and  erring  judgment,  and  why?    Chiefly 
because  he  was  a  great  man,  accomplished  something  for  the 
benefit  of  mankind,  and  always  endeavored  intelligently  to  do 
right.     Surely  he  possessed  the  highest  manly  attributes — 
ability,   conviction,   firmness,   generosity,   gentleness,    honor, 
honesty,  knowledge,  kindness  and  sincereness;  he  championed 
a  cause  relentlessly  whether  the  monetary  consideration  be 
for  or  against  him  personally ;  he  devoted  the  very  best  energies 
of  his  entire  life  to  the  betterment  of  his  country  and  people, 
whether  under  or  out  of  salary,  and  in  order  that  his  undivided 
talents  might  aid   in  solving  the  most  serious  questions — 
those  he  considered  infinitely  of  more  importance  than  indi- 
vidual problems — he  neglected  personal  affairs  and  consumed 
a  private  fortune,  thus  beginning  rich  and  dying  poor.     A 
noble  ambition  and  precept — one  that  in  his  case,  as  usual, 
produced  a  final  aching  void,  but  that  seemingly  with  which 
he  was  perfectly  satisfied,  judging  from  his  own  words:  "  It 
is  from  posterity  we  are  to  expect  remuneration  for  the  sacri- 
fices we  are  making  for  their  service  of  time,  quiet  and  good 
will,  and  I  fear  not  the  appeal."     Is  it  more  than  the  desert 
of  every   faithful   and   conscientious   worker,   having   spent 


150  UNIVERSITY    OF   VIRGINIA 

a  life  in  strengthening  others  and  weakening  one's  self,  to 
expect,  nay  crave,  some  slight  recognition  and  gratitude  in 
death,  if  not  in  life,  from  those  directly  and  indirectly  served  ? 
Is  it  surprising  that,  "  having  fought  the  good  fight,"  he 
should  say  in  his  declining  days :  "  Tranquility  is  the  greatest 
good  of  life,  and  the  strongest  of  our  desires,  that  of  dying 
in  the  good  will  of  all  mankind."  These  are  only  natural 
sentiments,  by  most  persons  concealed,  sadly  without  realiza- 
tion— by  Mr.  Jefferson  willingly  expressed,  gloriously  real- 
ized. 

With  all  of  his  virtues  and  greatness  he,  like  the  rest  of 
frail  humanity,  fell  in  some  instances  under  the  bane  of  just 
criticism — indeed  possessed  faults — but  his  strength  over- 
shadowed his  weakness  as  does  the  mountain  the  molecule. 
The  author  and  champion  of  a  political  school,  the  rank  and 
file  looked  upon  him  as  their  chief  apostle  from  whom  advice 
and  opinions  were  sought  by  endless  thousands,  resulting  in 
an  enormous  correspondence  that  enslaved  and  shortened  his 
declining  years.  But  the  disciple  of  his  people,  he  did  their 
bidding  as  though  a  public  servant — but  without  compensa- 
tion and  with  a  kindness  prompted  by  genuine  love.  This  in 
the  light  of  the  present-day  business  world  might  be  consid- 
ered his  greatest  besetting  sin.  He  detested  the  abridgement 
or  curtailment  of  any  man's  liberty  and  rights,  seemingly  for- 
getful that  it  is  human  nature  when  given  an  ell  to  take  a  mile 
— to  violate  the  Golden  Rule,  thereby  necessitating  laws  for 
protection  and  restriction.  It  is  a  beautiful  dream  to  see  man 
accountable  alone  to  himself  and  his  Maker,  acting  with  equal 
justice  to  all  alike,  considering  self  no  more  than  others,  but 
in  practice  it  is  so  often  violated.  Thus  Mr.  Jefferson  had  too 
great  confidence  and  trust  in  mankind.  This  was  another  of 
his  shortcomings — accepting  human  nature  as  it  ought  to  be 
and  not  as  it  is. 

But  in  this  generation  these  trivial  weaknesses  are  forgot- 
ten— he  remains  a  tower  of  strength  for  parents  to  honor 
their  children  with  his  name,  while  associations,  cities,  col- 
leges, companies,  counties,  corporations,  hotels,  institutions, 
schools,  towns  and  townships  will  ever  keep  it  familiar  to  an 
unforgetting  people.  Thus  physically  dead,  spiritually  he  goes 
marching  on — still  breathing  his  crest  motto  as  a  benedic- 


UNIVERSITY    OF   VIRGINIA  151 

tion  upon  oppressed  humanity  wherever  found:  Ab  eo  liber- 
tas  a  quo  spiritus — From  Him  (is)  liberty  from  Whom  (is) 
life.  We  cannot  improve  upon  Donaldson's  conclusion: 
"  The  bibliography  of  Jefferson  is  now  some  six  hundred 
volumes  and  incidentally  reaches  thousands  more.  From 
the  records,  from  the  testimony  of  his  fellows  and  family, 
from  the  results  of  his  public  acts  and  private  virtues  he 
stands  in  the  front  line  of  American  immortals.  He  was 
useful  to  his  period,  and  his  life  and  deeds  are  valuable  as  an 
example  to  posterity ;  he  was  the  chief  founder  of  the  Republic 
of  the  United  States.  Lovers  of  liberty  and  the  rights  of 
man  are  partial  to  the  name  and  fame  of  Thomas  Jefferson; 
in  our  Republic  he  is  the  sweetest  flower  that  blossoms  in 
liberty's  garden.  The  man  at  the  wheel  several  times  in 
periods  of  National  danger,  he  always  brought  the  ship  of 
State  into  port  with  banners  flying.  In  public  matters  he  kept 
his  temper;  he  pushed  onward  for  the  liberty  and  rights  of 
mankind,  and  he  never  failed  to  succeed.  He  made  more 
notches  on  the  column  of  progress  of  human  rights  in  the 
years  of  his  political  life  and  power  than  any  other  five  Amer- 
ican statesmen — Thomas  Jefferson,  the  publicist;  the  forceful 
man  in  the  formative  period  of  our  Republic;  the  statesman 
and  leader,  was  always  in  the  forefront  of  the  battle  for 
humanity,  giving  and  taking  blows.  This  great  man  of  affairs 
was  as  humane  and  lovable  as  a  woman.  This  man  who 
reached  the  highest  possible  altitude  of  human  glory  was  one 
of  the  softest  by  nature  in  private  life,  and  beloved  of  children 
and  brutes.  He  walks  through  history  in  public  matters  as 
the  iconoclast.  In  his  family  and  domestic  life  he  was  as  gen- 
tle as  the  Master,  and  his  presence  as  sweet  as  the  voice  of  a 
loving  song. 

"  Along  in  the  eighties  it  was  my  privilege  and  honor  to  be 
a  guest  at  the  house  of  the  last  person  living  who  was  with 
Mr.  Jefferson  at  his  death.  Stately,  with  Jefferson's  features, 
even  to  his  nose  and  his  reddish-brown  hair;  queenly  in  man- 
ner and  with  a  memory  for  family  matters  and  events,  as 
tenacious  and  retentive  as  that  of  a  gossipy  society  woman  on 
personal  scandals.  This  granddaughter  of  Thomas  Jefferson 
(Mrs.  Septima  Randolph  Meikleham,  nee  Septima  Ann  Carey 
Randolph)  was  a  link  connecting  one  epoch  in  our  nationality 


152  UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA 

with  the  other.  Fourteen  years  of  age  at  his  death,  she  re- 
called vividly  events  that  had  happened  eight  years  prior  to 
that  event.  She  recalled  the  home  life  at  Monticello,  and  the 
habits  and  manners  of  her  grandfather.  She  was  born  at 
Monticello;  she  saw  James  Madison,  James  Monroe  and  the 
Marquis  De  Lafayette  sit  at  table  with  Mr.  Jefferson.  In  her 
presence  they  chatted  revolutionary  events  so  that  she  seemed 
almost  a  part  of.  that  period.  General  Washington  and  other 
heroes,  by  reason  of  this  table  chat,  seemed  to  her  to  be 
friends  and  almost  at  hand.  She  had  unbounded  affection  for 
her  grandfather,  and  recalled  him  as  a  gentle  loving  person, 
without  temper,  attentive  to  the  poor,  kindly  to  the  lowly, 
and  the  equal  of  any  man  who  ever  lived.  Their  long  rides 
in  the  country  about  Monticello;  their  journeys  to  Mr.  Madi- 
son's and  Mr.  Monroe's  homes  in  the  vicinage;  the  noonday 
halt,  with  lunch  at  a  roadside  spring,  half-way  on  the  journey 
from  Monticello  to  Mr.  Madison's  at  Montpelier  she  loved  to 
talk  about.  She  vividly  recalled  and  described  l  Eagle,'  Mr. 
Jefferson's  favorite  saddle  horse;  she  had  often  been  placed 
upon  him  for  a  ride  by  Mr.  Jefferson  himself.  She  recalled  the 
day  when  Mr.  Jefferson  was  thrown  from  '  Eagle's '  back  and 
his  wrist  broken.  She  sat  day  after  day  and  heard  Mr.  Jeffer- 
son play  the  violin;  one  which  he  had  made  himself,  and  so 
constructed  that  he  could  place  it  in  his  trunk  when  he  trav- 
eled; and  she  recounted  his  efforts  at  carpentering.  Visitors 
overran  them  at  Monticello.  She  pictured  to  me  a  delightful 
old  man  whose  chief  aim  was  to  make  everybody  about  him 
happy.  Never  a  harsh  word,  never  a  growl — patience  and  for- 
bearance instead.  Of  course,  she  never  knew  how  great  her 
grandfather  was  until  after  his  death,  and  even  then  recalling 
his  mildness  she  would  for  herself  wonderingly  measure  the 
grandeur  of  his  acts.  The  simplicity  of  his  character,  in  his 
later  life,  seemed  to  preclude  greatness — and  she  used  to  say 
'and  he  wrote  the  Declaration  of  Independence.'  And  then 
her  description  of  his  death.  Of  the  long  days  of  patient  wait- 
ing; of  his  calling  the  members  of  his  household  to  him  and 
saying  good-bye  to  each ;  of  the  awful  grief  of  her  mother,  and 
of  the  vast  assemblage  of  citizens  who  came  to  lay  him  away. 
'  I  peeped  over  the  gallery  in  the  hall  at  Monticello  (women 
and  small  children  did  not  then  go  to  the  grave  at  funerals  in 


I? 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  153 

Virginia)  as  I  heard  the  men  coming  in  to  carry  my  poor  old 
grandfather  out,  and  then  I  saw  the  bearers  lift  him,  and  as 
they  went  through  the  doorway  it  seemed  that  my  heart  and 
life  and  the  sunlight  went  with  them.  As  they  disappeared  I 
fancied  I  could  hear  his  sweet  voice  of  but  three  days  before 
(I  was  the  last  person  who  spoke  to  him)  as  I  said,  "  Good 
morning,  grandfather,  do  you  know  me?  "  and  as  he  moved  his 
hand  a  bit  I  thought  he  said,  "  Yes,  dear."  And  now,  after 
more  than  fifty  years,  when  I  recall  that  hot  July  morning  in 
1826,  and  think  I  see  that  tall  pure  figure  waiting  for  the  touch 
of  the  angel,  I  can  still  hear  faintly  those  sweet  words,  "  Yes, 
dear." '  " 


CHAPTER    VIII 

CONDITIONS  DOMINATING  THE  SELECTION  OF  THE 
UNIVERSITY 

Luther  M.  Reynolds — academic  and  professional  education — Professors 
Allen,  Horsford,  Norton,  Porter;  his  trip  to  Pennsylvania  and  Ken- 
tucky, where  he  frequently  saw  and  heard  Henry  Clay  make  impres- 
sive speeches;  other  experiences  related  and  personages  encountered 
that  enthused  my  youthful  mind;  his  high  appreciation  of  college 
training,  and  estimate  of  various  institutions,  including  the  University 
of  Virginia;  factors  that  led  me  to  select  that  University,  etc. 

MY  uncle,  Luther  M.  Reynolds,  a  Delawarean  by  birth,  a 
Mary  lander  by  adoption,  enjoyed  a  divided  collegiate  course — 
the  first  half  within  his  native  State,  at  Delaware  College, 
where,  entering  in  1844,  he  came  under  the  guidance,  as  was 
often  his  delight  to  relate,  of  four  young  but  afterwards  noted 
educational  characters:  George  Allen,  Eben  Norton  Hors- 
ford, William  Augustus  Norton,  and  John  Addison  Porter,  a 
quartet  not  long  together,  being  a  few  years  later  drawn  into 
broader  and  more  useful  fields.  Professor  Allen  was  called 
to  the  chair  of  Ancient  Languages  in  the  University  of  Penn- 
sylvania ;  Professor  Horsford  to  the  Rumford  chair  of  Applied 
Science  in  Harvard  University,  where  he  encouraged  Mr.  Ab- 
bott Lawrence  to  found  the  Lawrence  Scientific  School,  and 
originated  the  world  renowned  acid  phosphate  and  baking  pow- 
der; Professor  Norton  to  the  Sheffield  Scientific  School,  where 
he  taught  for  thirty-one  years,  becoming  the  author  of  popular 
works  on  astronomy  and  natural  philosophy ;  Professor  Por- 
ter to  the  chair  of  Chemistry  in  Yale  College,  where  he  married 
the  daughter  of  Mr.  Joseph  E.  Sheffield,  whom  he  influenced 
in  making  the  liberal  donation  that  founded  the  scientific 
school  bearing  his  name. 

Mr.  Reynolds,  owing  to  circumstances  to  be  related,  com- 
pleted his  academic  training  at  Jefferson  College,  Cannons- 
burg,  Pennsylvania,  from  which  he  graduated  in  1847.  Two 
years  later,  June  1849,  at  the  age  of  twenty-five,  he  graduated 

154 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  155 

from  Yale  Law  School,  and  while  there,  near  the  end  of  his 
course,  had  determined  for  himself  by  a  chance  method  his 
future  scene  of  activity.  A  number  of  companion  students 
one  day,  according  to  usual  custom,  were  resting  carelessly 
in  chairs  and  on  tables  in  the  law  library,  when  stoically  the 
subject  of  their  prospective  careers  was  introduced.  Some 
had  fathers  already  well-established  in  legal  practice,  to  whom 
the  problem  was  of  easy  solution ;  others  were  close  to  members 
of  the  Bench  and  Bar,  or  to  statesmen  of  acknowledged  power 
and  influence,  while  Reynolds  was  simply  the  son  of  a  well- 
to-do  farmer,  with  little  following  to  aid  advancement  in  a 
professional  line.  On  this  day  he  made  no  secret  to  these 
associates  of  his  future,  just  then,  being  without  plan  or  pur- 
pose, so  that  all,  interested  in  his  welfare,  made  suggestions — 
some  indeed  worthy  of  serious  consideration.  In  the  "  con- 
fusion of  tongues,"  he  arose  to  the  occasion  in  rather  a  self- 
assertive  manner,  proclaiming  his  ability  to  settle  the  matter 
thus :  "  I  will  stick  my  knife  at  random  between  the  leaves  of 
this  law  directory  and  write  to  the  man  whose  name  is  nearest 
the  edge  of  the  blade  to  take  me  in  his  office."  Suiting  action 
to  the  words  revealed  the  name  of  Samuel  Tyler,  Frederick, 
Maryland.  Then  and  there,  in  presence  of  the  multitude,  a 
letter  was  written  and  mailed,  which  in  due  time  brought  a 
courteous  reply  from  Mr.  Tyler  to  the  effect,  that  at  the  then 
present  his  office  had  sufficient  force,  but  within  the  year  he 
expected  a  vacancy,  which,  if  agreeable,  he  would  reserve 
gladly  for  his  new  correspondent. 

Leaving  Yale,  Mr.  Reynolds  returned  to  his  home,  Golden 
Ridge,  a  farm  near  Willow  Grove,  Delaware,  from  which 
during  the  early  autumn  he  entered  the  law  office  of  Mr.  Mar- 
tin W.  Bates,  at  Dover,  nine  miles  distant,  where  he  remained 
a  year — then  accepted  the  position  that  had  materialized  with 
Mr.  Tyler.  Upon  reaching  Frederick  he  was  received  kindly 
by  his  new  preceptor,  taken  to  his  home  and  there  domiciled. 
A  few  days'  intercourse  convinced  Mr.  Tyler  that  the  ambitious 
young  man  already  was  well-equipped  for  the  Bar,  requiring 
chiefly  a  familiarity  with  the  Maryland  "  Code  " — a  fact  gladly 
realized,  as  he  was  having  issued  then  from  the  press  a  legal 
work,  "  Tyler's  Practice,"  and  needed  some  one  to  aid  in  proof- 
reading. This  labor  Mr.  Reynolds  willingly  shared,  in  spite 


156  UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA 

of  the  great  desire  to  make  rapid  progress  in  his  legal  studies, 
and  although  serving  two  masters  that  half  year  he  was  ad- 
mitted to  the  Maryland  Bar  by  Judge  Purviance,  February  19, 
1851.  This  accomplished,  the  road  would  seem  to  have  been 
clear,  but  in  those  days,  as  now,  opportunities  had  to  be  created 
by  the  great  majority,  and  where  these  could  best  be  realized 
was  problematic.  Young  Reynolds'  friends  in  Frederick,  and 
they  were  many,  with  one  accord  would  listen  to  no  other 
selection  than  Maryland's  accepted  metropolis,  Baltimore,  and 
to  that  end  they  armed  him  with  letters  to  her  most  eminent 
judges  and  lawyers.  These  he  visited,  and  the  welcoming 
hands  were  so  sincere  and  cordial  that  without  hesitation  he 
decided  to  make  Baltimore  his  permanent  home,  where  he 
lived  for  more  than  fifty  years,  enjoying  a  lucrative  practice, 
and  ever  loyal  to  her  people  and  best  interests,  yet  never  losing 
perceptibly  the  fondness  for  his  native  State  and  place  of 
birth.  He  loved  his  parents,  brothers  and  sisters,  possibly 
"  passing  understanding,"  and  his  ter-annual  visits  to  home- 
land continued  until  death,  December  12,  1901,  with  unabated 
pleasure  to  both  the  visitor  and  the  visited.  His  own  home 
was  always  most  hospitable,  sheltering  in  and  out  of  season 
all  relatives,  near  and  remote  alike,  and  turning  aside  no 
worthy  Delawarean,  though  perhaps  a  positive  stranger.  He 
was  well-conversant  with  the  genealogy  of  his  State,  taking 
unusual  pride  in  locating  doubtful  members  of  his  own  and 
other  families,  and  holding  out  to  all  the  comforting  friend- 
ship, of  there  being  for  them  in  the  Monumental  City  only  one 
stopping  place — his  residence.  The  longer  and  more  frequent 
the  visits  of  those  near  to  him  the  greater  was  he  pleased,  and 
he  thoroughly  recognized  that  towards  him  all  relatives  bore 
a  reciprocal  feeling.  With  such  an  "  open  sesame  "  the  writer 
was  no  small  boy  when  first  aware  that  hotels  were  needed  in 
cities,  especially  Baltimore — believing  that  all  visitors  thereto 
enjoyed  similar  favorable  privileges — and  now  looks  back  with 
surprise  at  the  freedom,  second  not  even  to  possession,  always 
extended  and  realized  by  that  delightful  fireside. 

Although  uncle's  Christmas  visit  to  Delaware  was  by  rail 
and  usually  hurried,  those  in  the  spring  and  autumn  were 
more  deliberate  and  made  invariably  with  his  private  team — 
a  necessity  for  the  greatest  comfort  in  calling  on  those  of  his 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  157 

direct  line  and  a  few  congenial  friends  scattered  over  con- 
siderable territory.  His  horses,  a  source  of  great  pride,  were 
of  high  order,  becoming  wherever  seen  objects  of  comment 
and  admiration ;  his  carriage,  a  Brewster  or  Rogers,  was  com- 
modious, attractive  and  easy,  far  excelling  the  prevailing  styles 
of  that  community,  and  his  driver,  of  the  colonial  colored  type, 
now  sadly  almost  extinct,  was  trusted  and  tried,  having  served 
the  family  far  beyond  a  generation.  As  a  rule  uncle  was  ac- 
companied by  his  wife,  and  sometimes  his  very  congenial 
mother-in-law,  making  a  companionship  of  three  or  four  ex- 
tremely happy  souls.  The  route  was  either  by  Chester  River 
to  Rolph's  Wharf,  or  by  Choptank  and  Tred  Avon  Rivers  to 
Easton  or  Oxford,  thence  driving  the  twenty  or  thirty  miles  to 
their  destination.  So  long  as  his  parents  lived  their  home  was 
his  headquarters,  and  to  them  the  coming  was  always  a  joy- 
ful event,  as,  indeed,  it  was  to  the  entire  family  circle.  Re- 
union dinners  were  given  every  day  either  at  the  paternal 
abode  or  those  of  his  brothers'  and  sisters',  and  abundant  good 
cheer  pervaded  every  one's  nature  until  the  parting  farewell 
was  given.  The  younger  generation — nieces  and  nephews — 
was  not  slow  in  catching  the  pleasure  contagion  incident  to 
these  occasions,  for  they  meant  a  substantial  remembrance  in 
some  form  or  another  and  contributed  much  delight  to  an 
otherwise  dull  and  monotonous  rural  life.  After  the  death  of 
his  parents  (1874)  these  visits  were  continued  just  the  same, 
restricted,  however  to  brothers  and  sisters,  and  a  cousin  bear- 
ing his  father's  name,  for  whom  he  entertained  the  strongest 
affection. 

It  was  during  his  autumn  visit  of  1871,  when  spending  a 
night  or  two  with  my  parents  that  in  my  presence  he  inquired 
of  mother  (his  sister)  concerning  the  progress  I  was  making 
at  school  and  contemplated  educational  plans.  He  expressed 
himself  earnestly  in  favor  of  college  training,  enumerated  many 
potent  reasons  therefor,  and  related  a  number  of  school-boy 
experiences,  for  which  he  possessed  an  unusually  retentive 
memory,  and  I  an  appreciative  as  well  as  receptive  mind.  One 
of  these  at  least  deserves  preservation,  as  it  not  only  concerns 
several  public  characters,  but  reveals  some  extraordinary  real- 
izations— the  kind  that  served  then  to  have  a  decided  influence 
for  good  upon  a  callow  youth  just  beginning  to  see  the  light : 


158  UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA 

"  In  the  summer  of  1845  I  returned  home  from  Delaware 
College  complaining  with  a  pain  in  my  side,  which  the  doctor 
pronounced  the  result  of  liver  complication,  but  readily  amen- 
able to  treatment.  Father,  however,  concluded  that  a  trip 
might  do  more  good  than  medicine,  and  quickly  arranged  for 
me  a  visit  to  his  cousins,  John,  Thomas  and  George  Reynolds 
— three  brothers  living  at  Jefferson,  Pennsylvania.  My  old 
teacher  in  Smyrna,  Mr.  Morgan,  for  whom  I  had  unbounded 
respect  and  admiration,  had  moved  to  Clarksburg,  West  Vir- 
ginia, and  I  determined  it  would  be  opportune  to  look  in  upon 
him  en  route.  I  left  home  early  one  morning  by  stage  for 
Smyrna  Landing,  thence  by  boat  to  New  Castle,  by  train  to 
Frenchtown,  by  steamer  and  train  to  Baltimore,  reaching 
the  latter  point,  President  Street  Station,  at  8  o'ck,  P.  M. 
Mother  advised  me  to  patronize  always  the  best  hotels,  so 
Barnum's  was  selected  for  the  night.  Next  morning  I  con- 
tinued my  journey,  purchasing  a  ticket  to  Paw  Paw,  a  station 
on  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio  Railroad,  and  in  course  reached 
Martinsburg  for  dinner — this  being  announced  by  a  waiter 
beating  vigorously  a  large  triangle.  Upon  arrival  at  Paw 
Paw  I  took  the  Paw  Paw  and  Parkersburg  stage-line  to  Clarks- 
burg, some  ninety  miles  east  of  Parkersburg,  where  I  remained 
a  week,  seeing  much  of  my  former  teacher  and  riding  around 
the  various  mountains  on  horseback — trailing  chiefly  along 
partly  overgrown  footpaths,  there  being  no  roads  for  vehicles 
save  the  Parkersburg  pike.  One  day  I  strayed  to  Beverly,  a 
distance  of  fifty  miles,  stopping  often  at  the  little  farm  houses 
along  the  way  to  talk  with  the  occupants,  who,  as  a  rule  in- 
clined at  first  to  be  unfriendly.  But  as  our  conversation  pro- 
gressed, and  I  announced  myself  a  stranger  to  that  section,  a 
resident  of  Delaware,  their  attitude  quickly  changed,  since 
they  all  were  descendants  of  Revolutionary  soldiers  of  the 
Delaware  line — their  ancestors  having  taken  that  land,  a  con- 
tribution by  the  State  of  Virginia,  as  a  pension.  None,  how- 
ever, seemed  to  know  from  what  part  of  Delaware  they  came 
originally.  After  this  delightful  rest  I  proceeded  to  Geneva, 
Fayette  County,  Pennsylvania,  where  I  spent  a  Sabbath,  put- 
ting up  at  a  hotel  kept  by  Mr.  Everhardt.  This  was  a  Dutch 
town,  but  in  conversation  with  the  proprietor  soon  learned 
that  he  was  from  Delaware,  as  were  the  Davenports,  who 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  159 

owned  the  store  and  dwelling  opposite.  As  the  store  was  open 
I  went  over  in  a  short  while  and  had  a  talk  with  Mr.  Daven- 
port, who,  becoming  interested,  called  his  wife  from  the  rear, 
where  they  lived,  to  join  in  our  already  pleasantly  begun  chat 
of  Delaware  and  her  people.  This  good  woman  was  disin- 
clined to  credit  my  representations  until  I  introduced  incidently 
the  old  Welsh  graveyard  near  Newark  with  the  strikingly 
peculiar  inscriptions  on  many  of  the  tombstones.  Of  these  she 
knew  something  and  desired  to  learn  more,  as  some  of  her 
relatives  lay  buried  there.  Fortunately,  having  attended  col- 
lege at  Newark,  I  was  equipped  with  much  suitable  informa- 
tion and  its  imparting  led  to  me  being  invited  for  dinner  and 
to  spend  with  them  the  entire  day.  In  the  afternoon  I  gave 
an  account  of  my  college  work  and  expressed  the  intention  of 
teaching  somewhere  the  coming  year — a  fact  that  caused  Mrs. 
Davenport  to  mention  their  school  being  closed,  teacher  gone, 
and  the  universal  delight  it  would  give  to  have  it  reopened. 
It  was  a  select  school,  each  scholar  paying  four  dollars  per 
quarter,  and  the  well-to-do  families,  in  turn,  boarding  the 
teacher.  I  decided  then  and  there  to  accept  the  position  for  a 
term,  and  began  with  about  twenty-five  scholars,  among  them 
two  daughters  each  of  Messrs.  Everhardt  and  Gans,  the  re- 
puted wealthiest  citizens  of  the  town — the  latter  receiving  me 
into  his  own  family  circle.  I  had  not  been  in  traces  more 
than  a  week  or  two,  when,  to  great  surprise  and  annoyance, 
I  found  myself  with  a  parasitic  skin  disease,  scabies,  contracted 
from  some  of  the  students,  and  upon  inquiry  ascertained  that 
all  knew  of  its  prevalence,  but  attached  little  importance  to  its 
seriousness,  as  they  could  guarantee  a  cure  within  a  week. 
Mr.  Gans  affirmed  that  the  best  doctor  around  was  a  graduate 
of  medicine  living  across  the  Monongahela  River,  but  that 
there  resided  in  town  one  (quack)  especially  successful  in 
treating  minor  ailments.  I  saw  this  quack  doctor,  who  gave 
me  a  white  salve  to  rub  between  my  fingers  and  knee  joints, 
and  as  promised  the  cure  was  like  magic — simply  drying  up 
the  disease  within  forty-eight  hours.  During  the  three 
months'  stay  at  Geneva  I  paid  several  visits  to  my  father's 
cousins — the  Reynolds  brothers,  at  Jefferson — the  first  being 
on  a  bright  Sunday  morning  astride  of  Mr.  Gans'  favorite 
trotter,  when  the  distance  was  covered  by  10:30  o'ck.  After 


160  UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA 

hitching  the  horse  I  rapped  at  the  front  door,  but  found  all 
away  except  Mrs.  Reynolds,  to  whom  I  revealed  my  identity 
and  the  fact  that  her  husband  had  only  seen  me  once — when  a 
baby  in  my  mother's  arms.  As  her  husband's  return  was  ex- 
pected by  noon  she  suggested  me  remaining  in  the  parlor  so 
that  he  could  have  an  abrupt  chance  at  guessing  my  personal- 
ity. When  told  of  a  stranger's  presence  he  immediately  came 
into  the  room,  extended  pleasant  salutations,  and  after  stand- 
ing a  few  moments  facing  me,  smiled  and  said:  Why,  you 
are  my  cousin  Robert  W.  Reynolds'  son,  Luther,  whose  home 
I  visited  for  a  week  when  you  were  an  infant.  This  gentle- 
man was  Thomas  Reynolds,  seemingly  the  most  prosperous 
of  the  three  brothers,  who  kept  the  main  hotel  of  the  town 
and  managed  other  industries — being  fine  looking  with  ruddy 
complexion,  six  feet  high  and  weighing  two  hundred  pounds. 
After  talking  a  while  he  went  out  and  invited  his  two  brothers, 
George  and  John,  to  dine  'with  him,  so  we  all  together  spent 
several  very  pleasant  hours.  He  insisted  that  I  remain  longer 
than  had  been  planned,  an  impossibility,  and  that  I  repeat  my 
visit  often — so  difficult  as  only  to  be  availed  of  on  one  other  oc- 
casion. Another  day,  however,  I  rode  in  a  different  direction 
and  called  on  their  two  sisters,  whom  I  found  large,  healthy 
and  good-looking  women,  much  beloved  by  their  neighbors — 
the  one  who  married  Mr.  Randolph  appearing  the  more  in- 
telligent and  expressing  her  intention  of  visiting  Delaware 
some  time. 

"  My  sojourn  at  Geneva  came  at  an  end  one  pleasant  Sun- 
day afternoon,  when  I  departed  for  Brownsville,  a  town  some 
twenty  miles  down  the  river,  with  a  population  of  four  or  five 
thousand,  on  the  National  pike  at  the  head  of  slack-water  of 
the  Monongahela.  Soon  after  arriving  I  walked  down  to  the 
wharf  to  take  for  Pittsburg  the  boat,  which,  to  my  great  sur- 
prise, bore  the  name  of  '  Louis  McLane,'  a  fact  that  made 
me  feel  not  so  far  from  home  as  other  conditions  would  indi- 
cate. It  was  now  Monday  afternoon  when  we  pulled  away 
from  Brownsville,  and  upon  reaching  Pittsburg  some  hours 
later  I  sought  a  hotel  with  good  accommodations,  as  I  pro- 
posed to  remain  at  least  a  week  and  explore  the  city  thor- 
oughly, in  order  to  learn  its  advantages,  if  any,  over  eastern 
rivals. 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  161 

"  One  of  my  colleagues  at  Delaware  College,  Mr.  Armstrong, 
had  accepted  a  position  at  Lexington,  Kentucky,  as  an  assist- 
ant teacher  in  his  brother-in-law's  female  seminary,  and  for 
him  I  still  retained  a  friendly  attachment.  As  I  yet  had  con- 
siderable money  from  my  Geneva  teaching,  the  thought  of  a 
trip  to  Lexington  to  see  him  and  her  greater  citizen,  Henry 
Clay,  suggested  itself,  consequently  after  staying  the  allotted 
time  in  Pittsburg,  I  took  a  steamer,  one  beautiful  morning, 
running  between  that  city  and  New  Orleans.  The  first  night 
on  board  I  noticed  a  great  deal  of  gambling  among  the  fast 
set,  which,  however,  did  not  begin  until  about  n  o'ck,  after 
the  less  worldly  passengers  had  retired  to  the  sleep  of  the  just. 
These  gamblers  I  observed  slept  during  the  day,  and  had  a 
banker  whom  they  called  Levi,  who  awoke  them  at  any  de- 
sired hour  and  furnished  wine,  money,  etc.  In  due  time 
Louisville  was  reached,  and  as  I  stood  on  the  '  quay '  with  my 
trunk,  my  eye,  glancing  up  one  of  the  streets,  saw  in  the 
distance  the  sign — Ohio  Hotel — towards  which  I  immediately 
set  pace,  having  a  colored  man  to  follow  with  my  trunk,  think- 
ing all  the  time  of  my  father's  cousins  who  lived  somewhere  in 
that  city.  Their  name  was  Forsythe,  so  next  morning  I 
started  out  to  hunt  them  up,  having  previously  consulted  the 
directory  and  several  persons.  This  task  shortly  came  to  a 
happy  conclusion,  as  they  were  found  easily  and  convinced 
quickly  that  I  was  no  impostor.  They  soon  inquired  my 
hotel,  and  when  I  replied,  adding  mother's  injunction — always 
stop  at  the  best —  they  laughed  heartily,  saying:  Well,  you 
certainly  missed  it  this  time;  you  must  change  to  the  Gault 
House — an  advice  accepted  the  following  morning.  Mr.  For- 
sythe, the  senior,  had  one  son  and  two  daughters;  the  former 
was  studying  medicine  then,  became  prominent  in  his  profes- 
sion— a  surgeon  in  the  Confederate  service — and  married  the 
widow  of  General  A.  P.  Hill,  she  being  a  sister  of  General 
John  Morgan;  one  of  the  daughters,  Emma,  married  Mr. 
Crockwell,  and  is  the  mother  of  Miss  Lillian,  who  frequently 
spends  weeks  at  my  home;  the  other  daughter  married  Mr. 
Sterling,  and  is  the  mother  of  Mrs.  Scott,  who  also  visits  us 
occasionally.  Their  father  reminded  me  very  much  of  my 
father  in  manners,  affability,  florid  complexion,  Adam's  apple, 
etc.,  and  not  only  he  but  his  entire  household  were  extremely 


162  UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA 

kind  to  me — that  which  in  later  years  I  have  endeavored  to 
reciprocate. 

"  I  only  remained  in  Louisville  half  of  the  week,  and  then 
set  out  for  Lexington  by  stage,  which  ran  to  Frankfort  some 
fifty  miles  distant,  where  I  tarried  several  days,  taking  in  the 
beautiful  suburban  country.  From  here  the  rest  of  the  trip 
was  by  railroad,  the  only  one  west  of  the  Alleghany 
mountains,  which  was  then  financially  embarrassed  owing  to 
its  defaulting  treasurer,  a  man  from  New  Castle  County,  Dela- 
ware, of  whose  whereabouts  the  authorities  were  anxious  to 
learn.  Some  thought  him  secreted  in  New  York  or  Phila- 
delphia, but  I  heard  in  after  years  that  his  father-in-law,  Mr. 
William  (Billy)  Hurlock,  had  given  him  refuge  within  his 
own  home,  near  Saint  George's,  Delaware,  where  he  remained 
a  long  time  to  the  mystification  of  the  public.  I  reached  Lex- 
ington one  Monday  after  dark  and  was  recommended  to  the 
Phoenix  Hotel,  where  registering,  dining,  and  feeling  fatigued 
I  soon  sought  my  room  for  sleep.  After  a  comfortable  night's 
rest  I  arose  early,  as  was  my  custom,  and  finding  a  colored 
man  washing  the  pavement,  inquired  of  him  the  way  to  Ash- 
land, the  home  of  Mr.  Clay,  only  to  receive  the  quick  and  polite 
reply :  '  Right  straight  out  dat  road  dere  Boss/  This  road 
was  Main  Street,  and  the  direction  eastward,  so  I  began  to 
walk  the  route  suggested,  reaching  Ashland,  one  and  a  half 
miles,  in  a  very  short  time.  I  readily  recognized  the  place 
from  the  pictures  already  seen,  which  at  that  time  were  well- 
scattered  over  the  country,  as  were  those  of  Mr.  Clay — he  hav- 
ing just  been  a  Presidential  candidate.  It  was  the  great 
popularity  and  esteem  enjoyed  by  Mr.  Clay  that  stimulated  me 
to  get  a  glimpse  of  him  if  possible,  and  as  I  neared  the  house, 
standing  about  two  hundred  yards  from  the  pike,  I  noticed 
several  gentlemen  in  the  side  field  looking  at  some  colts,  one 
of  which  party  persisted  in  walking  towards  the  animals  while 
suddenly  making  a  rattling  noise  with  his  hand  on  the  inside 
of  his  silk  hat,  thereby  giving  fright  and  causing  them  to 
prance  around  at  a  lively  gait.  I  had  never  seen  that  trick 
practiced  before  and  as  it  was  effective  considered  it  a  good 
one.  I  passed  beyond  the  house,  and  upon  turning  around  to 
retrace  steps  townward  noticed  in  the  same  field  with  the  colts 
a  colored  man  on  the  road  side  taking  down  the  old  post  and 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  163 

rail  fence,  and  a  little  further  on  another  colored  man  with  a 
white  gentleman  setting  new  posts  in  new  holes — the  old  posts 
having  been  removed.  I  asked  the  first  individual,  if  Mr.  Clay 
had  gone  to  his  office,  when  he  pointed  ahead  to  the  two  en- 
gaged at  post  setting  and  said :  '  Dat  dare  yonder  is  Moss 
Henry/  I  then  walked  slowly  towards  that  spot  and  sure 
enough  it  was  Mr.  Clay,  plainly  recognized  from  his  various 
pictures.  In  passing  I  never  took  my  eyes  off  of  him,  as  he 
was  intent  upon  the  work  in  hand  and  little  conscious  of  the 
intruder,  and  hurriedly  returned  to  the  hotel  for  breakfast. 
The  same  day  I  called  upon  my  friend,  Mr.  Armstrong,  and 
among  other  things  told  him  of  my  favorable  impression  of 
the  country,  climate,  town,  and  the  looks  of  things  in  general, 
adding  that  should  he  hear  of  an  opportunity  for  teaching, 
kindly  put  me  in  the  way  of  it,  as  I  would  like  to  remain  in 
Lexington,  at  least  during  the  winter.  He  at  once  spoke  of 
the  school  at  Walnut  Hill,  six  miles  from  town,  likely  to  be  in 
need  of  a  teacher  very  soon,  and  as  this  was  on  the  pike  run- 
ning from  Lexington,  the  county-seat  of  Fayette  County,  to 
Richmond,  the  county-seat  of  Madison  County,  the  next  day 
found  me  on  foot  seeking  the  school.  This  I  readily  rec- 
ognized by  Mr.  Armstrong's  description — building  small  and 
by  the  side  of  a  church — and  upon  rapping  at  the  door  the 
teacher  soon  appeared,  when  I  introduced  myself  and  made 
known  my  business.  He  seemed  pleased  at  this  possible  turn 
in  affairs,  stated  that  he  was  from  Maine  where  the  winters 
were  too  severe  for  his  weak  lungs,  consequently  had  sought 
Lexington  as  a  southern  point,  expecting  it  to  meet  all  re- 
quirements, but  this  it  did  not  do  last  winter,  so  he  thought 
it  wise  to  spend  from  November  to  March  in  Florida — that 
which  he  would  do,  if  he  could  get  a  suitable  substitute  for  that 
period  willing  to  hand  over  the  charge  upon  his  return.  I 
told  him  of  my  willingness  to  accept  the  school  under  those 
terms,  and  that  he  need  apprehend  no  trouble  in  resuming 
duties  at  any  time  he  might  specify.  We  at  once  arranged 
matters,  going  so  far  as  to  discuss  a  suitable  boarding  place 
and  to  ask  one  of  the  little  scholars,  Levi  Rhoads,  if  he  thought 
I,  their  new  teacher,  could  get  accommodations  at  his  house. 
To  this  he  replied :  '  I  don't  know,  sir,  but  if  you  will  go  home 
with  me  we  can  soon  find  out  from  my  mother.'  After  school 


164  UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA 

I  accompanied  Levi  to  his  father's,  Colonel  Rhoads,  and  re- 
mained on  the  porch  while  the  lad  searched  for  his  parents. 
It  was  a  beautiful  afternoon  and  while  sitting  there  in  the 
enjoyment  of  quiet  meditation,  Mrs.  Rhoads  appeared,  who, 
after  the  usual  formalities  of  strangers  meeting,  made  the  as- 
surance that  they  would  be  pleased  to  have  me  with  them. 
This  young  lad,  Levi  Todd  Rhoads,  was  a  grandson  of  Levi 
Todd,  a  lieutenant  in  the  battle  of  Blue  Licks,  whose  brother 
John,  the  hero  of  that  engagement,  exhibited  such  foolhardy 
bravery,  as  did  Major  McGary,  as  to  lose  the  battle  along  with 
his  life.  The  Kentuckians  were  pursuing  the  Indians,  and,  as 
related  in  the  life  of  Daniel  Boone,  had  reached  the  Licking 
River,  when  a  council  of  war  was  held  to  consider  the  ad- 
visability of  awaiting  reinforcements  or  crossing  the  river  in 
further  pursuit.  Boone  opposed  the  latter  alternative,  but 
Major  McGary  and  Colonel  Todd,  before  a  decision  had  been 
reached,  wildly  rushed  into  the  river  exclaiming :  '  Brave 
men  will  follow  me,  cowards  will  remain  behind,'  whereupon 
all  fell  in  line.  Upon  ascending  the  opposite  shore  and  pro- 
ceeding about  a  mile  they  encountered  an  ambuscade  of  In- 
dians— just  where  two  ravines,  one  on  either  side  of  the  ridge, 
so  conformed  as  to  conceal  an  enemy  that  might  assail  them 
in  front  and  flank  before  realizing  the  slightest  danger.  It 
was  this  that  happened,  giving  to  the  Indians  the  famous  vic- 
tory of  Blue  Licks,  in  which  many  officers  and  men  sacrificed 
their  lives.  Colonel  Todd  owned  about  three  thousand  acres 
of  highly  cultivated  land  around  Walnut  Hill,  divided  into 
three  farms,  one  for  each  of  his  daughters — wives  of  Colonel 
Rhoads,  Major  Bullock,  and  Major  Carr.  It  was  here  these 
families  resided,  while  Robert  Todd,  a  brother  of  the  three 
ladies,  conducted  a  store  in  Lexington,  and  became  the  father 
of  several  children,  two  of  whom  it  was  my  pleasure  to  know 
well — one  a  boy,  Bob,  about  fourteen  years  of  age,  the  other  a 
young  lady,  Ann,  some  years  older.  This  lady  frequently 
came  out  to  visit  her  aunt,  Mrs.  Rhoads,  so  that  enjoying  the 
same  home,  we  naturally  gravitated  into  good  friendship,  in 
spite  of  her  never  appealing  to  me  owing  to  aggressive  smart 
mannerisms.  One  day,  however,  she  took  me  aside  to  recount 
the  shortcomings  of  her  brother,  Bob,  whom  she  described  as 
incorrigible  and  a  menace  to  the  happiness  of  all  his  former 


UNIVERSITY    OF   VIRGINIA  165 

teachers — insisting  that  I  take  him  under  my  special  care  in 
conformity  with  her  parents'  wishes,  since  they,  knowing  me, 
believed  I  could  do  something  for  the  boy's  good.  I  readily 
consented  to  the  appeal,  so  within  a  few  days  the  young  fellow 
was  sent  out  to  his  aunt's,  Mrs.  Rhoads,  to  board  and  become 
my  pupil — a  contact  that  gave  me  not  the  slightest  trouble,  as 
he  soon  became  studious  and  attentive  to  all  duties.  Mrs. 
Bullock  had  a  son  who  was  a  lawyer  in  Lexington,  a  partner 
of  John  Cabell  Breckinridge,  whose  sister  he  married. 

"  The  regular  teacher  failed  to  return  the  last  of  March,  as 
had  been  his  intention,  owing  to  the  unusually  severe  winter  in 
Florida  as  well  as  Kentucky,  consequently  I  retained  my  teach- 
ing until  early  June,  that  which  was  very  acceptable  to  me,  as 
it  neared  the  completion  of  the  scholastic  year  and  allowed  him 
a  few  weeks  for  examinations  and  closing  the  school  according 
to  his  own  liking. 

"  Several  days  before  leaving  for  home,  preparatory  to  re- 
entering  Delaware  College,  Mrs.  Rhoads  thought  so  well  of 
me  as  to  extend  the  compliment  of  a  parting  supper,  at  which 
the  following  personages  were  seated :  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Rhoads, 
Levi  Rhoads,  their  son,  Bob  Todd,  the  bad  boy,  Ann  Todd,  the 
aggressive  sister,  Mr.  Bullock,  John  C.  Breckinridge,  and  my- 
self. While  at  the  table  the  subject  of  my  going  was  discussed, 
as  well  as  college  course  yet  to  be  completed.  Mr.  Breckin- 
ridge seemed  especially  interested,  and  insisted  that  I  change 
from  Delaware  College  to  Jefferson  College,  of  which  his 
uncle,  Dr.  Robert  J.  Breckinridge,  was  president — a  gentleman 
possessing  many  friends  around  Lexington,  having  been  born 
and  reared  there,  but  for  many  years  pastor  of  the  Second 
Presbyterian  Church,  Baltimore.  I  promised  the  assembled 
guests  to  stop  over  at  Jefferson  College,  whereupon  Mr.  John 
C.  Breckinridge  at  once  penned  a  letter  of  introduction  to  Dr. 
Breckinridge,  to  which  all  present  affixed  their  names. 

"  I  left  Lexington  on  the  appointed  afternoon,  taking  the 
stage  for  Maysville  on  the  Ohio  River,  and  when  about  fifteen 
miles  on  the  road  we  met  a  lady  desiring  passage  to  our  des- 
tination, but  as  every  seat  was  rilled  it  was  impossible  to  give 
her  accommodation  unless  some  gentleman  consented  to  vacate 
and  ride  on  top  with  the  driver.  The  appeal  was  made  and  I 
alone  responded,  giving  her  my  seat  and  riding  the  rest  of  the 


i66  UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA 

night  high  above  their  heads  under  a  beautiful  starry  canopy. 
While  it  was  rather  cool,  protection  by  blankets  and  an  iron 
guard-rail  made  sleep  safe  and  refreshing.  About  midnight 
we  stopped  at  a  large  hotel  where  an  orchestra  discoursed 
sweet  music  to  which  manly  and  maidenly  feet  kept  pace  in 
the  rhythmic  dance.  This  was  the  Blue  Lick  Springs  Hotel 
brightly  illuminated  and  in  the  midst  of  an  overcrowded  hop, 
but  the  prevailing  sulphurous  emanations  were  so  strong  that 
I  was  right  glad  when  we  sped  again  our  onward  way.  We 
arrived  at  Maysville  next  morning  and  there  took  a  boat  for 
Pittsburg,  where  I  caught  a  stage  for  Cannonsburg,  eighteen 
miles  distant.  Shortly  after  reaching  there  and  getting  lo- 
cated at  the  hotel,  I  visited  Dr.  Breckinridge,  and  presented  my 
much  signed  letter,  which  upon  reading  caused  a  greeting  of 
more  than  ordinary  cordiality,  emphasized  by  calling  all  the 
family  to  meet  the  young  gentleman  direct  from  Lexington. 
Dr.  Breckinridge  had  two  sons,  Robert  and  William,  also 
several  daughters,  one  then  grown.  A  granddaughter  after- 
wards became  a  Mrs.  Handy,  the  wife  of  a  Presbyterian  min- 
ister on  the  eastern  shore  of  Maryland,  and  to  them  children 
were  born,  one  son  having  served  Delaware  as  Congressman. 
"  I  remained  at  Jefferson  College  until  graduated,  June,  1847, 
having  as  classmates,  John  H.  Handy,  John  P.  Pennington, 
William  McDonald,  etc.,  but  left  for  home  immediately  after 
Commencement,  going  by  boat  and  stage  to  Brownsville,  canal 
boat  to  Cumberland,  cars  to  Baltimore  and  home.  While  at 
the  hotel  in  Lexington,  several  days  before  taking  charge  of 
Walnut  Hill  School,  when  eating  breakfast  one  morning  I 
noticed  a  gentleman,  Mr.  Horeine,  finish  the  meal,  get  up  and 
go  out,  and  to  be  followed  by  a  Mr.  Shelby,  son  of  Colonel 
John  Shelby.  Getting  through  shortly  thereafter,  I  walked 
out  of  the  dining  room  just  in  time  to  see  the  latter  fire  and 
kill  the  former.  Shelby  was  brought  to  trial  and  I  had  the 
pleasure  of  hearing  Mr.  Clay's  great  speech  in  the  defence.  I 
came  to  reside  in  Baltimore,  February,  1851,  boarding  opposite 
The  Sun  office,  Baltimore  Street  near  North,  and  soon  found 
that  some  gamblers  were  very  near  by  being  brought  several 
times  in  close  legal  relation  with  one,  who  frequently  spoke  of 
his  manager — the  identical  Levi  that  was  on  the  steamer  when 
I  went  down  the  Ohio  River  to  Louisville,  whom  I  saw  in  our 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  167 

city  many  times  thereafter.  After  an  absence  of  twenty-five 
years  I  revisited  Lexington  this  summer,  reaching  there  at 
night  and  only  to  spend  twenty-four  hours,  as  my  chief  inter- 
est lay  in  Frankfort.  Next  morning  I  thought  I  would  look 
around  the  town  to  see  what  changes  time  had  wrought.  Of 
course  Mr.  Clay  was  dead,  as  I  had  seen  his  body  lay-in-state  in 
the  Rotunda  of  our  Baltimore  City  Hall,  but  I  walked  out  to 
Ashland,  which  I  found  looking  as  it  did  a  quarter-century  be- 
fore, and  strange  to  relate  the  old  fence  was  being  replaced  by  a 
new  one.  I  talked  with  the  colored  men  engaged  at  the  work, 
when  one  remarked  that,  "  Moss  Henry  helped  to  put  up  the 
old  fence,"  to  which  I  replied:  Yes,  that  is  true,  for  I  can 
testify  to  having  seen  him  with  my  own  eyes  right  here  thus 
engaged.  I  inquired  of  the  hotel  clerk  concerning  various  old 
friends,  including  Bob  Bullock,  whom  the  clerk  said  was  then 
the  county  sheriff,  and  had  an  office  just  opposite.  In  a  short 
while  I  called  on  him  and  asked  if  he  knew  who  I  was?  He 
replied :  '  I  cannot  tell  your  name,  but  you  were  a  captain  in 
my  Regiment  during  the  war,  or  a  member  of  my  Regiment, 
or  so  and  so  of  Colonel  Henderson's  Regiment/  Finding  he 
was  not  a  very  good  guesser,  I  revealed  my  identity,  when, 
remembering  me  distinctly,  we  entered  pleasantly  into  con- 
versation concerning  former  times  and  persons  somewhat  dear 
to  us  both.  I  inquired  after  the  Todds,  who  were  his  cousins, 
especially  Bob  and  Ann,  when  he  jumped  up  from  his  chair 
and  loudly  exclaimed :  *  You  don't  mean  to  tell  me  that  you 
lived  for  eight  years  within  forty  miles  of  them  and  knew  noth- 
ing of  either ! '  I  replied :  1 1  do  mean  to  say  so,  whereupon  he 
quietly  continued :  *  My  cousin  Ann  resided  at  the  White  House 
with  her  sister,  Mrs.  Abraham  Lincoln,  while  her  brother, 
Bob,  was  the  keeper  of  Libby  Prison,  Richmond,  Virginia/  ' 
Mother  and  I  seemed  to  enter  so  thoroughly  into  the  spirit 
of  Uncle's  morning  talk  that  thereafter  he  felt  warranted  in 
making  some  suggestions  concerning  my  future,  at  least  such 
as  he  considered  important  at  that  time.  As  a  fact,  however, 
he  was  not  unlike  other  eldest  children,  as  he  never  hesitated 
to  counsel  brothers  and  sisters  to  their  advantage  in  matters  of 
significance,  and  although  not  a  father  he  advised  freely  con- 
cerning children  of  his  blood  and  those  in  whom  he  took  in- 
terest, expressing  opinions  in  no  mistaken  language  upon  their 


168  UNIVERSITY    OF   VIRGINIA 

acts  done  and  proposed;  he  allowed  nothing  to  go  unnoticed 
and  unchallenged  savoring  of  the  slightest  deception  or  in- 
directness, and  while  liking  his  advice  followed  he  never  held 
against  one  its  non-acceptance.  On  that  morning  he  con- 
tinued: "  You  know  '  Sal '  (for  that  was  the  name  he  used 
in  speaking  to  her,  but  "  my  sister  Sarah  "  when  speaking  of 
her),  if  I  were  in  your  place  I  would  see  that  David  receives 
more  than  a  seminary  training,  for  he  seems  studious  and  re- 
ceptive of  knowledge,  and  it  would  be  a  shame  to  deny  him 
opportunities  or  curtail  any  ambition  he  might  possess  and 
develop  in  that  direction.  I  freely  confess  that  some  men 
of  my  acquaintance  are  great  in  the  absence  of  collegiate 
education,  but  with  it  I  contend  they  would  have  been  far 
greater;  while  on  the  other  hand  I  know  some  men  who  are 
fools  in  spite  of  their  college  course,  but  I  honestly  believe 
that  without  it  they  would  have  been  even  greater  fools.  Al- 
though it  may  be  true  *  that  all  men  are  created  equal/  so  far 
as  the  '  rights  of  life,  liberty  and  pursuit  of  happiness '  are 
concerned,  yet  this  does  not  hold  good  when  applied  to  natural 
inheritance  and  endowments.  Truly  I  recognize  that  there 
is  no  special  reason  why  your  son  should  be  more  favorably 
gifted  than  his  several  companions,  and  as  most  of  them  will 
have  to  be  contented  with  moderate  schooling,  should  David 
be  allowed  to  follow  their  example,  we  can  expect  his  future 
only  similar  to  that  predicted  for  them.  But  if  he  will  apply 
himself  diligently,  making  more  than  ordinary  advancement  in 
his  studies,  then  there  is  hope  for  a  career  of  greater  promise 
than  fighting  for  a  mere  existence.  Granting,  that  with  an 
education  he  makes  simply  a  living,  then  I  contend  he  will  have 
a  broader  and  deeper  life — one  more  resplendent  in  self-satis- 
faction. It  is  true  I  appreciate  the  fact  that  there  is  more  in 
education  than  books,  institutions  and  diplomas,  as  there  is 
more  in  religion  than  creeds,  churches  and  sermons;  even 
knowledge  may  not  be  education,  but  the  two  are  related 
closely,  since  the  former  is  the  food  of  the  latter,  consequently 
a  person  may  have  much  knowledge  and  little  education,  or 
much  education  and  little  knowledge.  I  consider  education  to 
be — developed  mind,  thinking  power,  the  mind  trained  and 
equipped  to  do  that  for  which  it  was  intended — and  when  a 
mind  can  do  this  it  is  educated,  whether  it  has  encountered  the 


UNIVERSITY    OF   VIRGINIA  169 

college  process  or  not,  but  if  it  cannot  do  this  it  is  not  educated, 
although  backed  by  many  diplomas  and  crammed  to  overflow- 
ing with  important  facts.  Such  a  development  I  would  like  to 
see  wrought  in  David,  but  even  if  that  be  impossible  we  owe 
it  to  ourselves  to  make  the  endeavor  at  having  him  become  an 
honorable  and  intelligent  citizen  through  mind  training.  In 
order  that  he  may  have  good  opportunities  and  advantages 
it  is  important  to  be  careful  in  the  selection  of  a  college,  and 
personally  I  have  no  special  one  to  recommend.  Of  course 
there  are  three  kinds — good,  better,  best — and  yet  at  any  one 
a  decided  amount  of  knowledge  can  be  gained,  much  depend- 
ing directly  upon  the  individual  himself.  You  may  lead  a 
horse  to  water  but  all  power  on  earth  cannot  compel  him  to 
drink  unless  he  feels  so  inclined. 

"  At  every  college  there  is  the  greatest  abundance  of  knowl- 
edge held  on  tap  for  willing  recipients — that  the  sloth  and 
laggard  secures  only  a  small  quantity  is  no  evidence  against 
the  atmosphere  he  breathes  being  overcharged  with  it.  As 
you  well  know,  from  the  beginning  to  the  end,  I  attended  three 
— Delaware,  Jefferson,  Yale — and  in  a  way  each  possessed 
merit.  I  was  all  along  a  close  student,  deriving  untold  benefit 
from  each  year's  work,  and  there  were  plenty  of  my  com- 
panions that  equalled,  possibly  excelled  me.  I  never  saw  a 
week  in  those  days  when  I  considered  myself  not  having  about 
all  I  desired  to  stand  up  to  in  comfort,  and  yet  I  am  not  wedded 
to  these  institutions  for  David.  On  the  other  hand  our 
brother  Thomas  is  very  decided  in  his  likes  and  dislikes  of 
educational  institutions,  and  never  hesitates  to  express  his 
great  admiration  for  the  work  done  at  the  University  of  Vir- 
ginia. Thomas,  you  recall,  attended  Dickinson  College, 
Carlisle,  Pennsylvania,  and  upon  leaving  there  went  direct  to 
Virginia  to  teach  others  some  of  that  which  had  been  taught 
him,  and  during  those  two  years  of  pedagogic  experience  came 
in  contact  with  a  number  of  University  of  Virginia  men — 
those  loyal  to  truth  and  in  sounding  her  praise — consequently 
he  believes  that  not  only  is  the  scholarship  offered  and  gained 
there  of  an  unusual  high  order,  but  that  the  dignified  personnel 
of  the  student-body  has  few  equals,  and  cannot  be  excelled/' 

Even  though  all  of  this  conversation  was  directed  chiefly 
to  my  mother,  yet  personally  I  was  paying  strict  attention — to 


170  UNIVERSITY    OF   VIRGINIA 

that  which  ultimately  was  to  have  positive  effect.  I  had  al- 
ready passed  through  the  first  grade  public  school,  having  had 
the  guidance  of  two  unusually  fine  teachers,  and  had  spent  one 
year  at  Felton  Seminary,  Delaware,  to  which  I  was  about  re- 
turning for  a  second  year.  The  expression  of  this  solicitous 
feeling  in  my  behalf,  on  the  part  of  "  Uncle  Luther,"  was  by  no 
means  the  first  awakening  impulse  to  my  mother's  aspirations, 
for  she  had  followed  closely  her  only  offspring  from  his  very 
infancy,  waiting  and  hoping  that  each  succeeding  year  would 
reveal  a  substantial  evidence  of  something  more  than  child- 
like precocity — that  which  every  one  admitted  to  be  possessed 
in  no  little  degree.  She,  in  and  out  of  my  presence,  had  often 
talked  over  with  father  the  advisability  of  giving  me  a  well- 
rounded  education,  and  he  was  in  perfect  accord  of  letting  it 
include  a  college  or  university  training.  His  schooling  had 
been  limited — restricted  to  the  public  schools — and  he  was  un- 
willing that  his  son's  should  be  likewise,  for  no  one  realized 
more  keenly  than  he  what  the  absence  of  higher  advantages 
signified.  I  have  so  often  heard  him  lament  the  poor  oppor- 
tunities afforded  him  for  gaining  knowledge,  and  reasonably 
predict  what  more  he  might  have  made  of  himself  had  the 
earlier  years  been  turned  to  a  different  account.  Most  promi- 
nent men  of  his  acquaintance,  in  professions  and  business,  en- 
joyed a  liberal  education,  and  he  sincerely  thought  that  it  was 
this  alone  that  had  brought  them  to  positions  of  honor  and 
trust.  It  is  true,  as  he  commented,  he  had  seen  a  few  college 
men  reach  untimely  drunkard's  graves,  but  he  considered  such 
as  poor  unfortunates — attributing  their  downfall  rather  to  per- 
sonal weakness  than  to  the  evil  of  worldly  associates  formed 
away  from  parental  restraint  and  influence.  He  further  be- 
lieved that  with  a  good  education  no  one  need  be  a  financial 
failure,  and  that  with  it  every  one  easily  secured  unto  himself 
a  life  of  far  greater  comfort  and  satisfaction.  My  course  at 
the  Seminary  continued  to  be  Latin,  Greek,  mathematics,  and 
music — the  latter  mother  contending  essential  to  drive  dull 
care  away  in  after  life,  that  which  no  one  seems  entirely  able 
to  escape.  During  the  early  spring  of  that  session  (1871- 
72),  without  consulting  my  parents — considering  that  unneces- 
sary— I  wrote  to  several  institutions,  including  the  University 
of  Virginia,  for  catalogues,  all  being  received  in  due  time. 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  171 

That  of  the  University  was  accompanied  by  excerpts  there- 
from, bound  separately,  of  the  three  professional  schools — 
Law,  Medicine,  Agriculture — supplemented  by  a  very  friendly 
personally  written  letter,  signed,  Charles  S.  Venable,  Chair- 
man. As  time  permitted  these  were  read  with  adequate  care 
and  interest  to  become  familiar  with  essentials,  without  de- 
ciding what  to  do  in  the  coming  autumn.  Seminary  boys  of 
the  industrious  sort  have  little  time  for  thoughts  outside  of 
preparing  daily  recitations  and  assigned  duties,  consequently 
in  these  tasks  I  had  questions  to  settle  quite  "  sufficient  unto 
the  day  thereof."  It  is  true  we  discussed  together  occasion- 
ally our  preferences  for  colleges,  and  for  particular  ones  some 
students  from  the  start  had  arranged  their  studies,  thereby 
avoiding  any  concern  in  that  direction  on  the  home  stretch, 
but  most  of  us  talked  little  and  thought  less  concerning  the 
near  or  remote  future. 

One  day  late  in  April  I  picked  up  in  the  reading  room  among 
the  newer  magazines,  a  copy  of  Harper's  Monthly  for  May, 
which  I  found  to  contain  an  article,  entitled,  "  Mr.  Jefferson's 
Pet,"  in  reality  a  ten  or  twelve  page  history  of  the  University 
of  Virginia,  beautifully  written  and  attractively  illustrated 
with  five  good-sized  wood  cuts:  Statue  of  Mr.  Jefferson,  by 
Gait ;  Western  aspect  of  the  University ;  Southern  view  of  the 
Lawn;  The  Rotunda,  and  School  of  Athens,  in  the  Public 
Hall.  Of  course  I  was  much  interested  in  its  reading,  and 
confess  to  it  impressing  me  strongly  with  the  institution's 
greatness,  as  up  to  that  time  I  had  seen  little  or  nothing  pub- 
lished in  the  more  reputable  household  journals  concerning 
our  colleges  or  universities,  and  that  Harper's  would  devote 
such  space  to  other  than  the  higher  I  knew  to  be  impossible. 
Thus  my  Uncle's  conversation,  Professor  Venable's  friendly 
and  explanatory  letter,  and  the  article  in  Harper's  influenced, 
indeed  confirmed  the  selection  so  far  as  I  personally  was  con- 
cerned, consequently  thereafter  my  parents'  approval  was  the 
only  thing  needed. 

My  record  at  the  Seminary  for  the  year  had  been  highly 
satisfactory — nothing  below  ninety,  and  from  that  up  to  ninety- 
five,  ninety-six  and  one  hundred,  so  with  such  a  creditable 
report  there  was  neither  shame  or  remorse  attached  to  my  re- 
turn home  the  middle  of  June — a  fact  I  hastened  to  manifest  by 


UNIVERSITY    OF   VIRGINIA 

showing  these  results  and  explaining  my  already  determined 
plans  supported  as  best  I  could  with  intelligent  arguments. 
Mother  from  the  first  seemed  thoroughly  pleased,  so  express- 
ing herself,  while  father  was  not  adverse,  since  he  had  sided 
with  the  Confederacy,  proclaiming  boldly  in  and  out  of 
season  his  fervent  devotion  to  that  cause.  He  had  endeavored 
to  escape  into  the  Southern  line,  but  was  intercepted  after  get- 
ting many  miles  from  home;  owing  to  his  outspoken  senti- 
ments the  Federal  forces,  by  which  we  absolutely  were  sur- 
rounded, kept  close  vigil  over  his  goings  and  comings — once 
with  arrestment  subjecting  him  during  the  incarceration  to 
numerous  indignities,  and  on  several  other  occasions  used  dire- 
ful threats  in  order  to  curb  his  irritating  tongue.  A  positive 
character  like  his,  and  that  he  was  in  those  days  for  all  the 
words  imply,  quite  naturally  chafed  in  no  little  degree  under 
such  impending  authority,  and  could  not  well  at  that  slightly 
later  period  be  reconciled  to  the  fact  of  there  existing  anything 
good  north  of  "  Mason  and  Dixon's  Line."  He  was,  there- 
fore, not  slow  in  deciding  against  all  northern  institutions  and 
in  favor  of  my  selection,  consequently  as  he  controlled  largely 
the  purse  I  felt  that  an  early  realization  of  cherished  hopes 
was  assured.  During  vacation  several  letters  passed  between 
Professor  Venable  and  myself  pertaining  to  entrance,  neces- 
sary arrangements,  etc.,  and  in  one  of  these  he  advised  my 
reaching  the  University  a  few  days  before  the  session  opened, 
in  order  to  get  located  suitably  by  the  time  work  began  in 
earnest — a  suggestion  gladly  followed. 


University — Medical  Hall 
(Erected  1825,  restored  1886) 


University — Infirmary 
(Erected  1857) 


FACING    172 


CHAPTER    IX 
MAIDEN  TRIP  TO  WASHINGTON  AND  VIRGINIA 

Leaving  home  for  the  University;  visit  in  Baltimore  at  my  uncle's;  short 
stop  in  Washington ;  first  inspection  of  the  Capitol ;  view  of  the  White 
House,  Arlington;  made  a  friend  of  the  brakeman;  Alexandria — its 
seeming  antiquated  appearance;  Orange  and  Alexandria  Railroad; 
Henry  Knox,  the  courteous  and  obliging  brakeman;  Fairfax,  Bull 
Run,  Manassas — Confederate  cemetery — Bristoe,  Catletts,  Warrenton 
Junction  (Calverton),  Bealeton,  Rappahannock,  Brandy,  Culpeper, 
Rapidan,  Mitchell,  Cedar  Mountain,  Orange,  Madison  (Montpelier), 
Gordonsville,  etc. 

THE  morning  of  Thursday,  September  26,  1872,  broke  in 
with  beautiful  sunshine,  such  as  soon  mellowed  the  early  brac- 
ing temperature  into  that  which  brought  discomfort  to  every 
exposed  man  and  beast.  I  donned  my  best,  a  trifle  heavy, 
breakfasted  hurriedly,  and  now  was  to  be  the  saddest  duty — 
saying  farewell  to  mother — for  whom  I  recognized  the  part- 
ing painful,  as  by  nature  she  could  repress  poorly,  womanly 
emotions,  while  for  me  a  sharer  of  that  weakness,  if  weakness 
it  be,  I  felt  it  absolutely  impossible  to  refrain  the  tear  that 
moments  before  had  so  boldly  been  defied.  To  her  my  going 
meant  so  much — the  breaking  of  a  hitherto  continuous  com- 
panionship, the  unmistakable  separation  by  a  long  distance,  the 
likely  escape  from  maternal  domination,  the  possible  disregard 
of  pious  teachings,  and  the  probable  beginning  of  the  end  of 
paternal  home  life.  To  me  it  implied  equal  concern — few 
ever  had  stronger  attachment  for  home  or  parents,  and  now 
both  measurably  were  to  be  sacrificed  in  going  to  a  strange 
land.  Besides  it  marked  the  beginning  of  the  self-reliant 
stage,  when  for  every  turn  one's  own  head  had  to  be  taken 
and  held  responsible — true  a  condition  some  natures  crave  and 
court,  but  from  which  my  own  then  recoiled  and  shrank.  I 
was  entering  upon  a  new  and  all-important  drama  of  life, 
which  properly  played  would  lead  certainly  to  a  desirable  re- 
ward, but  poorly,  to  discouragement  and  disappointment.  The 
going  away  to  college  centers  upon  one  at  least  some  slight 

i73 


174  UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA 

attention  from  acquaintances  and  friends,  and  I  fully  realized 
that  from  then  on  they  occasionally  might  cast  an  eye  in  my 
direction — looking  for  the  good  or  bad  developments — that 
henceforth  my  doings  were  expected  to  count  for  something. 
None  of  this  was  incident  to  the  more  youthful  years  at  the 
Seminary,  for  there  I  was  among  my  people — "  a  prophet  with- 
out honor" — within  easy  driving  distance  of  home,  where 
each  Sunday  was  spent,  while  standing  and  results  in  studies 
had  little  effect  outside  of  self  and  family.  I  frankly  confess 
to  having  even  at  that  age  an  ambition  for  becoming  some- 
thing beyond  the  ordinary,  and  an  intuition  that  a  few  others 
had  for  me  bright  hopes  and  expectations,  so  it  was  not  strange 
that  those  separative  moments  claimed  thoughts  most  serious 
— far  from  idle  and  frivolous.  And  yet  a  vein  of  pleasure, 
indeed  satisfaction,  pervaded  the  hour  through  confidence  in 
this  outward  step  into  the  world  being  the  only  proper  one  to 
take. 

Father  drove  me  one  mile  to  the  nearest  railroad  station, 
for  the  7 125  A.  M.  train,  which  soon  arrived  giving  only  time 
for  checking  trunk,  and  bidding  him  and  the  several  local 
well-wishers  a  hearty  good-bye.  No  ticket  was  needed  as  I 
enjoyed  complimentary  privileges  on  that  portion  of  the  road 
— a  fact  causing  me  to  cover  the  route  often,  to  know  well 
the  train's  crew,  and  to  be  considered  by  father  just  a  trifle 
careless  and  risky.  Indeed  his  last  counselling  words  were: 
"  Be  careful  on  trains,  take  care  of  yourself,  and  be  a  good 
boy  " — possibly  not  an  unusual  admonition  to  sons  first  depart- 
ing from  home.  The  journey  to  Baltimore  was  without 
special  feature,  as  it  had  frequently  been  taken  with  the  same 
dual  changes,  Clayton,  Delaware  Junction,  and  could  not  be 
expected  to  offer  any  unforeseen  complications.  All  I  could 
hope  for  was  to  pass  acceptably  the  hours  in  transit  through 
reading  a  morning  paper,  viewing  familiar  scenes,  and  revert- 
ing occasionally  to  the  just  enacted  sad  home-parting.  Our 
train  reached  President  Street  Station  at  1 105  p.  M.,  where  I 
found  awaiting  me  the  trusted  coachman  of  my  Uncle,  to 
whose  residence  I  soon  was  conveyed,  only  to  receive  from  all 
a  most  hearty  welcome.  That  night  I  accompanied  Uncle  and 
Aunt  to  the  theater — surely  a  pleasant  treat,  and  one  in  which 
I  felt  not  the  slightest  ill-at-ease,  in  spite  of  my  semi-puritanic 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  175 

training  suggesting  a  corrupt  influence  of  the  stage.  Twelve 
hours  only  had  passed  since  turning  in  the  direction,  of  an 
education,  which  I  was  not  slow  in  realizing  had  to  be  made 
up  of  many  elements,  so  that  the  coming  of  an  opportunity  to 
enjoy  a  healthy  comedy  for  three  hours,  which  to  peruse  in 
book  required  that  many  days,  even  with  less  permanent  effect, 
I  accepted  as  a  very  helpful  beginning.  Next  morning  I  sat 
for  a  photograph,  that  my  youthful  identity  upon  entering  the 
University  might  be  preserved,  and  also  made  numerous  pur- 
chases to  complete  my  necessary  outfit.  We  all  had  finished 
dinner  when  Uncle  came  in  from  his  office — an  occurrence  more 
the  rule  than  exception,  as  he  preferred  one  session  at  business 
and  dinner  alone  at  3.30  P.  M.,  to  eating  earlier  with  the  family 
and  returning  thereafter.  According  to  custom  he  soon  came 
up  in  the  library  where  most  of  us  sat  reading,  and  after  an 
exchange  of  some  pleasantry  he  addressed  me  thus :  "  David, 
I  made  it  convenient  this  morning  to  call  on  one  of  my  brother 
lawyers,  whom  I  knew  to  be  a  University  of  Virginia  graduate, 
in  order  to  ask  him,  if  he  would  not  give  my  nephew  a  letter 
of  introduction  to  some  member  of  her  Faculty?  He  seemed 
delighted  at  the  opportunity,  and  penned  this  while  I  waited, 
which  may  be  of  some  service  to  you."  I  thanked  him  as 
best  I  knew  for  his  trouble,  interest  and  thoughtfulness,  and 
with  natural  curiosity  proceeded  to  read  the  contents,  it  being 
unsealed,  which  I  found  well-worded,  somewhat  difficult  to 
decipher,  but  bearing  the  assurance  of  friendship — the  creation 
of  at  least  one  friend  in  the  newer  field  towards  which  I  was 
drifting.  That  evening  was  passed  pleasantly  with  music  and 
family  talk,  and  upon  retiring  I  bade  them  all  good-bye  as  well 
as  good-night.  I  was  called  next  morning  at  3  o'ck,  and 
after  a  hurried  breakfast — for  be  the  hour  what  it  may,  Uncle 
would  never  allow  any  one  to  go  hungry  from  his  home — the 
trusted  coachman  called  for  me  in  time  to  take  the  4 120  A.  M. 
train  from  Camden  Station.  The  gates  guarding  the  entrance 
to  trains  in  those  days,  especially  at  such  an  early  hour,  were 
open  alike  to  attendant  and  passenger,  consequently  we  both 
passed  to  the  car  where  'he  saw  me  seated  comfortably  for  what 
I  considered  then  a  long  ride. 

Our  train  soon  moved  slowly  out  of  the  station,  leaving  him 
watching  after  me,  to  whom  I  waved  parting  farewells  receiv- 


176  UNIVERSITY    OF   VIRGINIA 

ing  acknowledgment  in  return.  I  was  determined  to  be  of  good 
cheer,  knowing  upon  his  return  the  family  would  inquire  the 
details  of  departure.  So  far  there  was  nothing  to  occasion  the 
least  despondency,  indeed,  I  had  scarcely  left  home,  as  kind 
relatives  had  been  taking  the  place  of  fond  parents  and  a  tu- 
multuous city  that  of  the  quiet  country.  But  now  I  was  gliding 
over  hitherto  untraveled  space,  and  as  the  train  rushed  along 
madly  in  the  darkness,  swerving  ungracefully  to  the  accommo- 
dation of  short  and  frequent  curves,  I  could  not  refrain  the 
passing  thought — any  moment  may  bring  me  to  eternity,  a 
rapid  race  for  an  education.  Shortly  after  leaving  Baltimore  I 
witnessed  a  very  familiar  farm-boy  scene — the  break  of  day, 
so  that  upon  reaching  the  depot  at  Washington  faces  could  be 
recognized  with  accuracy.  A  wait  here  of  over  an  hour  gave 
opportunity  for  a  cup  of  coffee,  a  walk  around  the  Capitol, 
and  a  view  of  our  making-up  southern  train,  consisting  of  a 
baggage,  mail,  and  two  day  coaches  with  the  "  Orange,  Alex- 
andria and  Manassas  Railroad  "  lettering  and  occupying  a  track 
on  the  elevated  street  in  front  (west)  of  the  depot.  The 
through  express,  arriving  at  6.30  o'ck,  brought  for  us  two  ad- 
ditional cars,  one  a  sleeper,  which  were  detoured  around  and 
up  the  incline — the  bed  of  tracks  in  the  rear  (east)  of  the 
depot  building  being  at  least  ten  feet  below  its  front  street 
level — by  a  number  of  able-bodied  horses.  This  higher  street 
track  was  the  only  connecting  link  between  the  two  systems, 
both  then  being  practically  under  the  Garrett  management,  as 
the  "  Baltimore  and  Potomac  Railroad  "  had  only  just  been 
completed  and  the  "  Pennsylvania  Railroad  "  had  not  yet  shown 
its  strong  hand.  A  few  months  later,  however,  its  power  began 
to  be  felt,  when,  having  secured  control  of  the  "  long  bridge  " 
and  the  short  line  of  railroad  to  Alexandria,  all  amicable  rela- 
tions ceased  between  the  two  systems,  causing  thereafter 
through  cars  of  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio  Company  to  be  de- 
toured  around  Washington  to  the  river-front,  Quontico,  thence 
by  large  transfer-boats  to  Alexandria  to  make  the  southern 
connection — a  condition  I  found  existing  when  returning  home 
for  Christmas  vacation.  In  September,  however,  the  track  on 
the  elevated  street  fronting  the  "  Baltimore  and  Ohio  Depot  " 
soon  took  an  almost  right-angle  course  westward,  along  a  street 
apparently  paralleling  Pennsylvania  Avenue,  and  over  this 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  177 

route  our  six  cars,  in  two  sections,  were  drawn  slowly  by  horses 
to  a  point  half  across  the  city,  where  coming  to  a  halt  of  several 
minutes,  an  engine  was  attached  for  more  rapid  and  permanent 
progress. 

The  White  House  from  its  southern  exposure  soon  came 
in  view  along  with  its  beautiful  landscape  and  floral  grounds, 
truly  a  handsome  mansion  of  English  Renaissance  style,  with 
an  imposing  semicircular  projecting  bay,  nestled  at  the  summit 
of  a  slight  incline.  To  me  it  had  existed  only  in  picture,  as 
had  the  Capitol  and  the  rest  of  Washington,  but  even  this 
had  impressed  so  indelibly  the  true  outlines  as  to  defy  mis- 
taking the  veritable  object.  As  we  moved  slowly  to  its  several 
angles  of  advantage  I  could  but  recall,  that  of  all  the  homes  of 
various  countries*  rulers  this  one  had  sheltered  possibly  those 
having  most  discordant  opinions,  and  that  only  a  few  of  these 
had  enjoyed  there  peaceful  days  unalloyed.  Its  corner-stone 
had  been  laid  by  General  Washington  and  it  had  been  occupied 
first  in  1800  by  President  John  Adams,  who  the  following 
year,  March  4th,  was  succeeded  by  his  bitter  partisan  adversary, 
Thomas  Jefferson,  and  thereafter  by  a  list  of  intermittent  party 
presidents.  General  Grant  was  now  its  host,  and  again  was 
before  the  country  for  re-election  in  the  coming  November. 
With  repressed  speed  we  curved  upon  the  "  long  bridge  "(Po- 
tomac), about  a  mile  long  and  of  requisite  width  to  accommo- 
date a  single  railroad  track  and  separate  ways  for  teams  and 
pedestrians.  Its  open  construction  readily  afforded  unob- 
structed views  of  the  river  in  various  directions,  but  that  to  my 
right  claimed  first  and  last  an  unconquerable  fascination.  We 
had  left  Washington  slightly  behind  time,  the  schedule  being 
7.15  o'ck,  and  now  it  was  an  hour  later.  A  more  perfect  au- 
tumn day  never  dawned,  as  the  bright  morning  sunlight  cast 
its  golden  rays  strongly  upon  the  river's  southern  bank,  which 
in  places  gradually  lifted  itself  from  the  water's  edge,  seem- 
ingly in  the  north  to  rise  in  more  abrupt  cliffs  and  still  higher 
rolling  elevations  in  the  distant  background.  But  far  to  the 
front  towered  in  bold  relief  what  appeared  almost  a  living, 
speaking  sentinel — Arlington — in  fawn-like  colors,  adorned  by 
majestic  columns  in  white,  once  the  home  of  the  great  Con- 
federate chieftain,  Lee,  now  the  resting  place  of  the  brave  Fed- 
eral dead.  As  the  brilliant  rays  played  upon  the  many  win- 


i;S  UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA 

dows,  as  likewise  upon  that  silvery  sheet  of  placid  water,  and 
as  an  occasional  passing  cloud  cast  irregular  shadows  upon  the 
surrounding  hills  and  dales  clothed  in  verdant  garb,  Arlington 
revealed  itself  that  morning  an  actual  temple  of  gold.  Indeed, 
one  could  have  exclaimed  justly :  Is  this  nature  I  see  or  a  canvas 
highly  tinted  ?  But  "  will  of  the  wisp-like  "  the  scene  soon  faded 
in  the  distance  to  be  followed  in  quick  succession  by  others  hav- 
ing at  least  an  interest  in  common  if  not  in  degree.  Contrast 
convinced  me  that  the  one  so  inspiring  was  not  a  dream  crea- 
tion— it  was  real  and  ever  lives  in  sweet  memory.  This  to  me 
became  a  true  retrospective  moment,  indeed,-  the  initiative  to 
an  endless  sequence  of  historic  thought  and  Civil  War  remi- 
niscences from  which  I  was  inseparable  the  entire  day. 

The  keen  relish  for  this  journey  was  occasioned  by  no  trivial 
or  passing  fancy,  for  it  had  a  beginning  quite  a  score  of  years 
before,  when  as  a  mere  child  I  not  only  saw  hundreds  of  Union 
soldiers  mobilized  and  mustered  into  service  for  what  in  many 
instances  proved  their  deadly  march  to  Richmond,  but  also 
heard  read  and  thoroughly  discussed  at  and  from  home  the  nu- 
merous startling  newspaper  accounts  of  each  and  every  encoun- 
ter between  the  contending  armies.  Even  at  that  youthful  age 
opportunity  was  never  lost  in  conversing  with  soldiers  home 
from  the  front  on  furlough  or  leave  due  to  physical  disability 
and  I  had  frequently  been  thrilled  near  unto  paroxysms  by  the 
pathetic  and  startling  experiences  of  those  engaged  at  first 
Manassas,  Antietam,  Chancellorsville,  Gettysburg,  and  on  the 
Merrimac.  Indeed,  our  teacher's  announcement  one  morning 
of  an  additional  study — History  of  the  United  States — to  be 
assumed  in  the  near  future  met  with  trite  opposition  from  me, 
for  no  one  could  have  accepted  the  increased  duty  with  greater 
satisfaction,  nay  delight.  In  the  home  I  had  often  glanced 
over  Lossing's  History  of  the  Revolution,  and  Brook's  Narra- 
tive of  the  War  with  Mexico,  while  there  had  appeared  al- 
ready several  well-illustrated  works  on  the  Civil  War — the 
last  then  being  "  The  War  Between  the  States,"  by  Stephens — 
which  I  had  carefully  read  and  partly  remembered.  Was  it 
at  all  surprising,  therefore,  that  I  could  scarcely  make  myself 
realize  the  dawning  of  that  auspicious  day  when  for  the  first 
time  I  was  to  enter  Virginia's  historic  domain,  and  that  along 
the  very  route  used  a  few  years  before  by  Generals  McDowell 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  179 

and  Pope  in  leading  their  unsuccessful  but  restless  forces, 
enthused  by  the  war-cry,  "  On  to  Richmond?  " 

It  was  true  that  seven  years  had  passed  since  the  Appomat- 
tox  surrender,  but  these  were  as  one  long  drawn  out — preg- 
nant with  horrible  reconstruction  scenes  and  political  agita- 
tions. In  substance  the  war  was  still  on;  bitter  partisan  feel- 
ings had  not  subsided  in  the  least;  internecine  strife  yet  pre- 
vailed to  an  alarming  extent  in  some  of  the  States ;  uniforms, 
especially  overcoats,  were  still  in  daily  winter  use  by  the  heroes 
who  had  worn  them  in  active  service ;  conversation  fell  largely 
along  the  lines  of  warfare,  while  our  National  legislation 
seemed  daft  upon  a  reconstructive  policy  more  calculated  to 
keep  open  than  heal  the  wounds  already  inflicted.  Every  one 
was  thoroughly  conversant  with,  in  fact  thought  he  knew  the 
most  truthful  account  of,  many  war  incidents,  and  enthusiastic- 
ally discussed  them,  while  personal  experiences,  risks,  exploits, 
sufferings  and  sensations  received  first  consideration.  Then 
scarcely  to  a  minor  degree  the  greatness  of  preferred  leaders  in 
peace  and  war  gave  rise  to  much  contention,  and  their  conduct 
on  various  fields,  on  the  rostrum,  in  State  and  National  coun- 
cils caused  many  expressions  of  approval  and  disapproval  ac- 
cording to  individual  sentiment  and  admiration.  "  The  War  " 
seemed  the  latest  and  most  absorbing  topic,  consequently  all 
things  else  faded  into  insignificance  as  to  impression  and  mag- 
nitude; surely  the  bitter  struggle  was  not  ended,  for  every 
American  continued  fighting  as  in  the  yesterday;  certainly 
slavery  had  been  abolished  but  not  settled,  for  nothing  is  set- 
tled until  settled  right,  and  therein  centered  "  the  bone  of 
contention,"  just  where  at  the  present  day  it  continues  to  rest. 

Our  train  to  me  was  one  of  strangers,  and  the  necessary 
refrain  seemed  beyond  endurance.  Frequent  travel  over  home- 
land roads  had  made  me  friendly  with  conductors  and  brake- 
men,  whom  I  invariably  found  courteous  and  communicative, 
and  of  all  times  I  now  felt  their  need  most.  The  idea  of  rail- 
roading in  some  form  as  a  future  pursuit  had  more  than  once 
suggested  itself  to  me,  as  it  often  does  to  others  somewhere  in 
life's  early  stage — the  result  no  doubt  of  a  fancied  conception 
in  youth  that  one  should  follow  whatever  is  most  accessible 
and  inviting,  without  duly  allowing  for  puerile  imagination  and 
inexperience.  At  any  rate  my  opportunities  had  been  such  as  to 


i8o  UNIVERSITY    OF   VIRGINIA 

efface  all  timidity  in  approaching  those  in  charge  of  trains,  and 
the  brakeman  assigned  to  our  two  cars  had  a  good  face  and  ap- 
peared kindly  disposed.  Until  we  cleared  the  "  long  bridge  " 
he  was  a  very  busy  body,  for  in  those  days,  when  compressed 
air  was  a  rare  service,  brakemen  were  true  to  the  name,  as  at 
every  proper  signal  they  had  to  jump  to  the  wheel  for  a  severe 
test  of  strength  and  judgment.  In  a  short  time,  however,  he 
loitered  in  the  rear  of  the  car,  near  my  seat,  when  I  inquired : 
"  How  long  have  you  been  running  this  route?  "  He  replied, 
"  About  three  years."  "  Then  you  are  familiar  with  the  points 
of  interest !  "  To  which  he  answered — "  I  ought  to  be."  The 
formality  over,  I  continued  a  fusilade  of  questions,  which  he 
answered  promptly,  pleasantly  and  satisfactorily.  He  was 
strong  in  patience,  and  more  generous  with  time  and  knowledge 
than  I  had  reason  to  expect,  for  he  dare  neglect  his  many  duties. 
The  distance  to  Alexandria,  although  only  eight  miles,  ap- 
peared that  morning  far  greater,  as  I  had  taken  in  so  many 
new  and  unusual  sights,  and  as  we  had  lost  nearly  half  an  hour 
waiting  a  train  at  a  junction  near  the  canal  several  miles  north 
of  the  city. 

As  we  pulled  into  Alexandria  I  was  impressed  forcibly  with 
the  many  crude  frame  hovels  lining  either  side  of  the  track — 
seemingly  a  district  of  squalid  poverty — whose  open  doorways 
and  steps  were  filled  with  colored  women  and  children,  sparsely 
clothed  but  laughing  and  vicing  with  each  other  in  giddy  de- 
light over  the  approach  of  our  well-laden  train.  The  majority 
of  buildings  appeared  extremely  plain,  many,  both  brick  and 
wood,  regaled  in  fresh  or  faded  whitewash,  evidence  at  least  of 
cleanliness  and  neatness,  while  a  few  of  modern  design  loomed 
up  at  commanding  points,  apparently  not  exceeding  four  or 
five  stories.  The  depot  was  a  composite  structure,  brick  and 
frame  portions,  one  and  two  stories  with  a  train  shed  in  front 
(westward)  extending  over  several  tracks  and  the  length  of 
three  or  four  cars.  The  roofs  were  pointed  and  the  entire 
building  wore  a  coat  of  either  grayish-blue  paint,  calcimine  or 
whitewash,  according  to  its  various  sections;  the  main  por- 
tion, brick,  contained  waiting  rooms  for  men  and  women, 
divided  by  ticket  and  telegraph  offices.  On  the  same  side 
(east)  and  a  little  southward  stood  a  moderate-sized  round- 
house, where  the  engines  of  the  road  were  housed  and  given 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  181 

necessary  attention.  For  these  natural  conditions  I  thought  none 
the  less  of  Alexandria,  as  I  had  never  seen  a  railroad  pass 
through  a  desirable  section  of  any  city — such  that  would 
leave  a  favorable  impression  upon  the  passer-by. 

The  friendly  brakeman  in  going  out  with  some  parapher- 
nalia remarked — "  The  train  has  a  new  make-up  here  and  for 
that  ten  minutes  are  required."  As  we  came  to  a  standstill  I 
jumped  off  my  car  and  walked  over  to  the  depot,  for  a  better 
view  of  the  crowd  and  surroundings,  and  while  there  saw  our 
engine  steam  away  and  replaced  by  another,  which  stood 
belching  forth,  in  hatefully  loud  accents,  steam  and  smoke, 
as  it  was  being  oiled  and  looked  over  finally  by  its  master. 
It  seemed  so  self-conscious  and  solicitous  of  notice  that  I  gave 
it  more  than  passing  glance — sufficient  to  observe  that  it  was 
built  at  Paterson,  New  -Jersey,  a  wood  consumer,  with  large 
flaring  smoke-stack,  high  and  heavy  fly-wheels,  and  the  gen- 
eral appearance  of  newness,  thereby  assuring  speed,  strength 
and  durability.  During  the  wait  each  car  wheel  went  through 
a  process  of  tapping  or  sounding ;  ice  and  water  were  supplied 
the  coolers;  considerable  baggage  was  taken  on,  and  a  num- 
ber of  passengers  joined  us,  among  them  several  well-dressed 
young  men  whom  I  reckoned  students  having  possibly  a  des- 
tination in  common  with  myself.  Shortly  after  9  o'ck,  our 
train  was  again  in  motion,  and  still  I  seemed  a  "  stranger  in  a 
strange  land  " — the  more  unfortunate  from  me  recognizing 
that  here  was  the  true  beginning  of  the  "  Orange  and  Alex- 
andria Railroad/'  and  that  the  next  four  hours  could  speak 
much  of  history  if  I  only  had  an  intelligent  interpreter  to  asso- 
ciate narratives  with  places  of  enactment.  The  new  conductor 
in  a  short  time  came  around,  and  tore  from  my  ticket  a  coupon 
giving  in  lieu  thereof  a  small  piece  of  yellow  cardboard  having 
printed  on  one  side  the  names  and  distances  of  stations,  and 
on  the  other  a  small  advertisement  with  directions  to  this 
effect:  Washington  City,  Virginia  Midland  and  Great  South- 
ern R.  R. — put  this  on  your  hat  and  avoid  the  frequent  call 
of  "  Ticket  Sir !  "  In  addition  it  bore  a  picture  of  a  silk  hat 
and  a  sentence  limiting  stop-over  privileges,  signed  by  J.  F. 
Peyton,  Conductor.  The  new  brakeman  to  our  car  appeared 
in  a  few  minutes,  and  looked  at  the  smoldering  fire,  ventilators 
and  such  incidentals  coming  under  his  care.  He  wore  the  air 


182  UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA 

of  experience  and  possessed  a  face  of  equal  kindness  to  the 
one  met  and  parted  with  the  hour  before,  so  I  determined 
to  address  him  at  first  convenience.  Fortunately  not  long 
thereafter  he  took  a  seat  in  the  rear  of  the  car  near  me,  and  at 
once  I  passed  him  my  Baltimore  paper,  The  Sun,  which  he 
accepted  with  thanks.  In  a  short  while  I  inquired  the  length 
of  his  service  on  the  road,  if  he  were  a  Virginian,  where  he 
lived,  etc.,  only  to  receive  acceptable  answers  and  an  inclina- 
tion to  prolong  the  conversation.  He  related  some  personal 
experiences  at  second  Manassas  and  other  turbulent  fields 
towards  which  we  were  hastening;  his  father  Henry  Knox, 
whose  name  he  bore,  had  been  killed  at  Chancellorsville  the 
afternoon  before  "  Stonewall "  Jackson  received  his  fatal 
wound;  an  older  brother  had  experienced  the  fortunes — mis- 
fortunes— of  the  Army  of  Northern  Virginia  from  beginning 
to  finish,  while  he  himself  had  joined  the  ranks  (Longstreet's 
Division)  in  early  August,  1863,  as  it  returned  to  Culpeper 
from  the  battle  of  Gettysburg,  and  remained  therein  until  the 
Appomattox  surrender.  He  had  lived  on  a  farm  near  Warren- 
ton  prior  to  the  war  and  enlistment,  and  told  his  story  with 
such  rural  simplicity  and  earnestness  as  to  cause  no  doubt  of 
its  truthfulness,  while  his  two  visible  scars — one  on  the  fore- 
head, another  on  the  left  hand — needed  no  verification  by 
words.  He 'was  pleased  with  my  interest  and  the  seeming 
familiarity  with  which  I  handled  dates,  contests  and  person- 
alities of  the  war  period,  the  more  so  from  my  residence  hav- 
ing been  outside  of  the  belligerent  district,  but  his  surprise 
abated  somewhat  when  I  revealed  my  objective  point,  and 
that  I  had  so  been  absorbed  in  war  records  as  to  have  written 
after  puerile  fashion  quite  a  history.  Henceforth  we  were  very 
loquacious,  and  for  the  rest  of  the  journey  I  never  lost  his  com- 
panionship and  explanations  save  when  duties  compelled  his 
absence.  He  had  been  on  the  road  five  years,  making  three 
round-trips  per  week  from  Alexandria  to  Lynchburg,  and 
knew  well  every  historic  acre  through  which  it  ran,  impressing 
the  fact  that  it  played  a  most  significant  part  in  bellum  days; 
while  I  had  so  often  seen  in  print  the  words  "  Orange  and 
Alexandria,"  as  it  connected  the  two  places  eighty  miles  apart, 
that  I  fancied  it  the  greatest  southern  outlet,  deserving  com- 
parison with  the  magnificent  trunk  lines  of  our  country.  But 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  183 

how  did  I  find  it  on  that  memorable  day?  As  much  time  was 
spent  at  the  rear  car  window  and  in  standing  on  the  platform, 
catching  every  opportunity  offered  for  inspection,  and  being 
better  acquainted  with  the  Pennsylvania  system  than  any  other, 
a  comparison  with  it  became  natural  but  strikingly  sad.  Here 
grass  often  occurred  between  the  tracks  almost  to  their  con- 
cealment, and  at  times  we  ran  so  slow  as  to  reveal  portions  of 
track  badly  worn — from  my  viewpoint  absolutely  unsafe.  My 
companion  affirmed  that  much  of  the  road-bed  was  still  in  its 
war-time  form — the  same  light  iron  rails,  ties  and  bridges 
serving  yet  wherever  thought  possible,  the  only  replacement 
occurring  in  places  of  total  destruction  by  the  armies  or  age — 
and  in  spite  of  that  the  controlling  powers  manifested  confi- 
dence in  its  secureness  and  safety.  Curves  were  almost  in- 
numerable, seldom  a  mile  without  one  or  more,  which  in  round- 
ing, owing  to  imperfect  curvature  and  joints,  produced  a 
screeching,  binding  noise — a  chattering  song  positively  alarm- 
ing to  the  quietly  disposed  or  nervous  passenger.  I  could  not 
but  exclaim :  What  a  road !  And  yet  I  then  realized  as  never 
before  that  no  other  had  ever  experienced  commensurate 
vicissitudes — carrying  as  it  did  burdens  heavy  and  light  alike 
for  the  one  or  other  army  according  to  that  in  control,  serv- 
ing simultaneously  often  the  Confederates  with  its  southern 
portion,  the  Federals  with  its  more  northern,  suffering  at  times 
partial  destruction  from  either  forces  in  the  effort  to  render 
abortive  the  emergent  or  matured  plans  of  the  advancing  or 
retreating  foe.  Time  and  again  various  sections  had  been 
torn  up  for  miles,  ties  burned  and  rails  diverted  to  other  uses ; 
important  bridges  had  frequently  been  destroyed  only  to  occa- 
sion excessive  expense  and  delay,  and  yet  that  was  the  ex- 
pected fate  of  war — a  bridge  was  praised  for  the  safe  passage 
of  its  present  load,  and  there  all  gratitude  ceased — it  could 
not  serve  another.  We  had  now  covered  about  twenty  miles 
and  were  nearing  Fairfax  Station,  several  miles  south  of  the 
Court  House  bearing  that  name,  around  which  considerable 
skirmishing  took  place  in  the  advance  on  Bull  Run.  The  next 
four  miles  brought  us  to  Clifton  (Union  Mills),  and  as  my 
informant  made  ready  for  the  stop  he  remarked :  The  stream 
just  beyond  this  station  is  the  famous  Bull  Run.  The  country 
now  entered  was  of  irregular  surface  with  many  hills,  dales 


184  UNIVERSITY    OF   VIRGINIA 

and  streams  of  varying  size;  the  soil  exposed  was  brownish- 
red  sand  and  clay  permeated  with  rocks  and  stones  of  all 
dimensions,  and  woods  were  plentiful,  consisting  of  many 
kinds  of  trees,  saplings  and  undergrowth,  bearing  autumnal 
foliage.  The  railroad  spanning  Bull  Run  had  been  destroyed 
by  General  Beauregard  at  first  Manassas,  in  order  to  prevent 
an  advantage  to  General  McDowell  in  case  of  Southern 
defeat,  and  also  met  a  similar  fate  at  the  hands  of  General 
Jackson  in  his  raid  around  General  Pope,  thereby  severing  the 
latter's  communication  with  Washington  and  rendering  Con- 
federate success  more  certain  at  second  Manassas.  As  we  came 
upon  the  bridge  I  felt  somewhat  apprehensive,  but  it  proved 
secure  and  afforded  a  fine  view  of  the  stream  below  having  a 
good  volume  of  reddish-yellow  water  noisily  hurrying  its  way 
to  the  Potomac.  Its  banks  were  fringed  with  timber,  more  or 
less  rocky,  especially  the  northern,  giving  often  an  unbroken 
range  southward.  The  distance  from  this  stream  to  Manas- 
sas Junction,  four  miles,  was  covered  at  creditable  speed,  but 
in  spite  of  that  the  remaining  trenches  and  mounded  works 
could  easily  be  seen — those  having  timely  sheltered  so  many 
brave  and  loyal  hearts.  These  with  their  many  grass-covered 
portions,  were  of  irregular  outline  and  showed  marked  signs 
of  denudation  by  natural  elements  and  the  husbandman's 
hand,  as  fields,  near  and  far,  gave  evidence  of  a  moderate 
spirit  of  industry  at  the  then  seeding  season.  The  railroad 
coursed  through  numerous  deep  and  shallow  cuts  of  character- 
istic reddish-brown  soil,  but  in  the  clear  was  revealed  gently 
sloping  hills  and  plateaux,  furrowed  by  ravines  of  varying 
length  and  direction,  and  studded  with  clumps  of  undergrowth 
— chiefly  pine  and  oak.  Assured  that  the  stop  at  Manassas 
would  be  several  minutes,  I  alighted  and  walked  the  station 
platform  in  order  to  secure  various  view-points  of  surround- 
ings, which  in  a  degree  were  disappointing  from  revealing 
simply  well-defined  country  on  every  side.  The  village,  of 
not  more  than  five  or  six  hundred,  lay  mostly  to  right  (west), 
a  number  of  frame  dwellings  of  modest  design  and  size,  also 
a  few  stores  being  visible.  To  the  southward  on  the  same  side 
could  be  seen  a  well-filled  cemetery  of  Confederate  dead,  and 
around  in  close  proximity  to  our  train  many  colored  women 
and  children  grouped  themselves.  There  was  a  generous 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  185 

sprinkling  of  white  adults,  a  few  without  arm  or  leg,  various 
crude  vehicles,  some  with  a  single  or  pair  of  steers,  or  a  care- 
lessly groomed  horse,  while  a  number  of  those  with  saddles 
stood  hitched  in  the  background  intently  grazing  upon  the 
sprigs  of  grass  in  the  fence-locks  and  on  the  roadside.  I  could 
but  be  impressed  with  the  serenity  and  stillness  of  the  spot, 
and  made  to  lament  the  aching  hearts  its  name  revived  at 
many  firesides — for  within  a  radius  of  three  miles  thousands 
of  patriotic  souls  had  sacrificed  an  earthly  existence  in  defend- 
ing conceived  rights  or  wrongs.  It  was  here  that  on  July  21, 
1 86 1,  General  McDowell  (Sherman,  Burnside,  etc.)  on  the 
one  side,  and  General  Beauregard  (Ewell,  Longstreet,  Early, 
Johnston,  Jackson,  etc.)  on  the  other  began  the  dreadful  con- 
flict that  lasted  four  weary  years;  that  Mr.  Davis  and  Gen- 
erals Beauregard  and  Johnston  had  their  memorable  confer- 
ence which  checked  the  then  foremost  southern  ambition  of 
following  up  Confederate  success  by  "  On  to  Washington ;  " 
that  a  year  later,  August  29-30,  1862,  General  Pope  (McDow- 
ell, Hooker,  Siegel,  Porter,  Banks,  Kearney,  etc.)  met  a  foe 
worthy  of  his  steel  in  General  Lee  (Jackson,  Longstreet,  Hill, 
Stuart,  etc.)  ;  that  owing  to  railroad  connections,  the  con- 
vergence of  several  common  roads,  and  emergency  conditions, 
either  one  or  the  other  army  at  various  times  located  the  quar- 
termaster's commissary  and  ordnance  stores;  and  that  General 
Jackson  fell  upon  such  a  desirable  prize  belonging  to  General 
Pope,  thereby  well  resuscitating  his  hungry  and  poorly  clothed 
soldiers.  Those  were  truly  days  of  carnage,  strife,  unrest,  and 
for  the  moment  I  could  not  refrain  from  drawing  the  contrast 
between  peace  and  war — now  a  reign  of  perfect  silence,  and 
only  a  few  visible  reminders  of  the  not  remote  stormy  past.  In 
revery  I  boarded  my  train,  and  as  we  slowly  sped  along  viewed 
intently  the  cemetery  and  a  single  track  road  branching  west- 
ward, at  right  angles  from  our  own — that  which  the  brakeman 
affirmed  to  be  the  Manassas  Gap  Division,  running  to  Fort 
Royal  in  the  Shenandoah  Valley,  first  through  the  Thorough- 
fare Gap  of  the  Bull  Run  Mountains,  then  the  Manassas  Gap 
of  the  Blue  Ridge,  both  of  whose  outlines  could  readily  be 
seen  in  the  near  and  distant  background.  It  was  over  thirty- 
four  miles  of  this  road,  Piedmont  to  Manassas  Junction,  that 
General  Johnston,  July  20,  1861,  conveyed  his  army  of  nine 


186  UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA 

thousand  men  to  join  General  Beauregard,  thereby  making 
possible  a  Confederate  victory  of  first  Manassas.  This  same 
Thoroughfare  Gap  was  used  by  General  Jackson  (Longstreet, 
Hood,  etc. )  in  his  raid  around  General  Pope  that  culminated  in 
success  at  second  Manassas ;  also  by  the  opposing  forces  under 
General  McClellan,  November  5,  1862;  and  finally  by  General 
Longstreet  in  his  advance  and  retreat  from  Gettysburg,  thus 
causing  its  high  and  precipitous  sides  to  reverberate  often  the 
fearful  din  and  clatter  of  moving  artillery  and  infantry  en 
route  to  havoc  and  destruction.  Four  miles  brought  us  to 
Bristoe  (Bristow),  even  less  pretentious  than  Manassas,  and 
sufficiently  removed  to  be  used  with  safety  at  both  battles  for 
field  hospitals.  Here  General  Jackson,  August  26,  1862,  ran 
upon  a  portion  of  General  Pope's  supplies,  capturing  two 
heavily  laden  trains,  while  on  the  following  day  General 
Hooker's  division  engaged  General  Swell's  division  of  General 
Jackson's  corps,  to  the  latter's  detriment,  during  which  the 
railroad  to  the  south  (west)  of  the  station  was  torn  up  in  sev- 
eral places  and  many  important  bridges  burned,  only  to  be  re- 
paired in  a  few  days  later  by  General  Banks,  so  that  the  por- 
tion of  store-trains  to  the  south,  saved  from  General  Jackson's 
raid,  could  be  sent  northward  towards  Manassas.  Here  also 
General  Hill's  corps,  October  14,  1863,  engaged  General  War- 
ren, while  later  in  the  same  month  General  Lee,  in  pursuing 
General  Meade  towards  Manassas,  again  destroyed  the  rail- 
road, but  retreating,  General  Meade  pressed  him  closely  mak- 
ing necessary  restoration. 

Several  miles  more  brought  us  to  Catlett's,  an  insignificant 
station,  but  around  which  the  contending  armies  often  marched 
and  countermarched.  Here  General  Lee,  returning  from 
Gettysburg,  encamped  one  of  his  divisions  for  a  while,  thence 
moved  to  Culpeper,  tearing  up  the  railroad  the  entire  distance. 
Three  miles  and  we  were  at  Warrenton  Junction  (Calverton), 
a  small  station  nine  miles  east  of  Warrenton,  where  the  Army 
of  the  Potomac,  under  Generals  Sumner,  Hooker,  Franklin, 
etc.,  encamped  in  the  autumn  of  1862.  Here  General  Grant, 
April,  1864,  came  near  being  taken  prisoner  by  Colonel  Mosby. 
The  General  during  that  spring  made  weekly  trips  to  Wash- 
ington from  Culpeper,  his  headquarters,  using  special  trains, 
and  it  was  on  one  of  these  return  trips  that  the  special  and 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  187 

Colonel  Mosby  happened  at  this  point  a  few  moments  apart. 
The  regular  train  had  passed  and  as  everything  around  the 
station  seemed  deathly  quiet,  the  Colonel  and  his  command 
made  only  a  short  pause,  crossed  the  track  and  pushed  slowly 
westward,  only  when  a  mile  distant,  and  in  perfect  view,  to 
hear  and  see  the  special  arrive,  stop,  and  hurriedly  depart. 
As  a  fact  upon  learning  of  the  Colonel's  proximity  the  General 
hastened  his  escape,  thereby  preventing  the  capture  of  valu- 
able booty.  It  was  at  this  point  that  General  Pope  ordered 
General  Porter,  though  nine  miles  away,  to  join  him  on  the 
night  of  August  27,  1862,  when  his  tardiness  in  obeying  as 
well  as  his  indifference  at  second  Manassas  led  to  him  being 
court-martialed  and  cashiered. 

Six  and  ten  miles  brought  us  respectively  to  Bealeton  and 
Rappahannock  (Remington),  both  simple  railroad  stations 
of  a  few  scattered  houses  and  stores,  but  thoroughly  rich  in 
war  associations — the  former  a  seat  of  battle,  January  14, 
1864,  the  latter  an  encampment  of  General  Pope  and  his  nu- 
merous forces,  August,  1862.  Just  beyond  Rappahannock 
we  crossed  at  considerable  elevation  a  good-sized  yellowish- 
brown  stream,  Rappahannock  River,  flowing  southeasterly 
and  joined  later  by  the  Rapidan  River,  before  entering  the 
James.  It  was  along  the  south  (west)  side  of  the  Rappahan- 
nock River,  during  the  summer  of  1862,  before  and  after  the 
battle  of  Antietam,  that  General  Lee  encamped  his  two  corps 
under  Generals  Longstreet  and  Jackson,  whence  they  marched 
to  engage  in  the  battle  of  Fredericksburg ;  while  it  was  to  the 
north  (east)  side  of  the  same  stream  that  General  McClellan 
advanced  after  his  famous  Antietam  experience.  The  con- 
tending armies  also  accepted  these  banks  for  winter-quarters, 
January-March,  1863,  gladly  considering  the  location  a  ver- 
itable haven  from  the  overtaxing  duties  of  the  year.  To 
thousands  of  those  heroes  deserving  rest  the  ripple  of  that 
stream  seemed  sweet  music,  and  although  its  waters  had  min- 
gled with  the  blood  of  their  many  comrades,  it  now  served 
simply  as  a  narrow  amicable  dividing  line.  It  was  the  Army 
of  the  Potomac  (Generals  Burnside,  Hooker,  etc.)  on  the 
north  bank,  and  the  Army  of  Northern  Virginia  (Generals 
Lee,  Jackson,  etc. )  on  the  south  bank,  that  during  those  severe 
months,  lion  and  lamb  like,  determined  to  lie  down  together. 


188  UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA 

Indeed,  by  a  welcomed  comity  no  firing  was  countenanced 
on  either  side,  and  any  one  could  parade  the  shores  out  of 
harm's  way — opposing  pickets  enjoyed  frequent  communica- 
tion>  gladly  hailing  all  opportunities  for  friendly  exchange  of 
thoughts  and  commodities,  the  Confederates  sending  across 
little  rafts  ladened  with  tobacco,  the  Federals  returning  them 
filled  with  coffee,  salt,  etc. 

Our  next  station,  Brandy,  was  five  miles  southward  and  a 
stop  of  two  minutes  revealed  a  few  commonplace  houses, 
having  in  the  background  a  rich  fertile  soil  apparently  well- 
cultivated.  Here  General  Lee,  June  8,  1863,  reviewed  Stu- 
art's brigade;  W.  H.  F.  Lee  received  a  severe  wound;  Gen- 
eral Stuart  had  a  severe  cavalry  encounter  with  General  Pleas- 
onton,  proving  the  excellent  mettle  of  the  contending  forces; 
General  Ewell  encamped,  June  10,  1863 ;  General  Sedgwick 
sought  as  an  objective  point  to  engage  General  Lee,  October, 
1863,  only  to  find  him  in  an  entirely  different  location  than 
supposed;  and  General  Meade  had  headquarters,  November, 
1863,  until  General  Grant's  visit,  March  10,  1864. 

Our  next  stop,  six  miles  distant,  was  Culpeper,  where  sev- 
eral minutes  were  spent  on  the  sidewalk  which  paralleled  and 
separated  the  track  and  store  fronts.  Besides  the  eager  multi- 
tude of  all  classes  standing  around  to  witness  the  day's  great 
event — coming  of  the  Washington  train — there  appeared  in 
greater  evidence  that  which  hitherto  I  had  never  encountered — 
the  famed  colored  venders  of  tempting  eatables,  as  fried 
chicken,  hard-boiled  eggs,  sandwiches,  cakes  and  apples.  These 
men  and  maidens  paraded  the  sidewalk  several  times  the  entire 
length  of  our  coaches,  supporting  on  their  heads  and  in  their 
arms  well-proportioned  platters  heavily  ladened  with  these 
tastefully  arranged  viands,  whose  qualities  they  loudly  sang. 
The  appearance,  odor  and  advertising  expressions  appealed 
to  many,  myself  included,  purchasing  several  yellowish-green 
apples,  which  I  found  as  represented — much  better  than  they 
looked — succulent,  firm  and  fine  grained,  bearing  the  name 
"  Albemarle  Pippin,"  a  variety  I  had  never  seen,  but  by  the 
brakeman  claimed  to  have  no  superior  in  the  South.  Culpeper 
was  several  times  a  disputed  possession  of  the  contending 
armies,  being  the  scene  of  cavalry  engagements,  September 
13,  October  12-13,  1863;  where  General  Lee  entrenched  after 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  189 

the  battles  of  Antietam  (September,  1862)  and  Gettysburg 
(July,  1863),  from  which  latter  field  the  Army  of  the  Potomac 
under  General  Meade,  followed  and  encamped  for  the  winter ; 
where  General  Grant  set  out  from  on  his  Wilderness  cam- 
paign, and  where  to  the  left  lay  hundreds  of  Federal  dead  in 
a  well-kept  National  Cemetery. 

The  run  to  Rapidan  (Rapid  Ann)  was  twelve  miles  and 
only  one  stop  had  to  be  made  at  Mitchell,  the  midway  point. 
The  country  through  which  we  glided  compared  favorably 
with  that  just  left  behind,  of  which  it  was  a  continuation,  and 
while  all  directions  were  inviting  from  an  agricultural  stand- 
point, the  trainman  suggested  that  I  direct  most  attention  to 
the  left  (east  and  southeast),  for  said  he:  We  are  passing 
now  through  the  southern  portion  of  Culpeper  County  and 
shortly  will  enter  Orange,  but  these  counties  are  bounded  on 
the  east  by  one  of  even  greater  celebrity,  Spotsylvania,  in 
which  Fredericksburg  is  located  some  thirty  miles  away. 
There  General  Burnside  (Hooker,  Franklin,  Sumner,  etc.)  to 
his  great  mortification  and  sacrifice  of  reputation  engaged  Gen- 
eral Lee  (Jackson,  Longstreet,  etc.),  December  13,  1862,  while 
ten  miles  nearer  is  Chancellorsville,  where  General  Hooker 
(Meade,  Hancock,  Sickles,  Sedgwick,  Howard,  Reynolds, 
Couch,  Miles,  Slocum,  etc.)  encountered  General  Lee  (Jack- 
son, Hill,  Longstreet,  Ewell,  Stuart,  McLaws,  etc.)  May  2-3, 
1863,  fighting  that  ever  memorable  battle  during  which  the 
invincible  "  Stonewall  "  Jackson  lost  his  life,  as  did  my  poor 
father.  Then  still  five  miles  nearer  but  in  the  same  direction 
and  county  is  the  historic  "  Wilderness/'  where  the  Army  of 
the  Potomac,  General  Grant  (Meade,  Hancock,  Warren,  Sedg- 
wick, Burnside,  etc.)  met  in  deadly  combat  the  Army  of 
Northern  Virginia,  General  Lee  (Longstreet,  Ewell,  Hill, 
Early,  Rhodes,  etc.)  May  5-6,  1864,  while  one  week  later,  May 
12,  these  armies  again  tried  strength  at  the  county-seat  giving 
to  the  world  the  battle  of  Spotsylvania  (Court  House).  When 
leaving  Mitchell,  a  modest  station,  the  trainman  called  my  at- 
tention to  a  small  mountain  in  the  near  distance  on  our  right, 
Cedar  Mountain,  around  whose  eastern  base  and  over  the  few 
intervening  miles  was  fought,  August  9,  1862,  that  short  but 
conspicuous  battle  of  the  same  name  between  Generals  Jack- 
son and  Pope. 


190  UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA 

As  we  passed  in  rapid  succession  hill,  dale,  woodland  and 
stream,  often  repeated  in  and  out  of  the  order,  I  could  almost 
fancy  myself  going  to  the  front,  for  the  war  seemed  no  longer 
of  the  past  but  a  real  present  active  conflict.  Mental  emotion 
became  more  and  more  acute  from  the  interesting  portrayal 
of  busy  scenes  and  daring  deeds  performed  at  every  step  of  our 
advance  in  more  turbulent  days,  but  in  this  moment  of  reverie 
my  guide,  for  that  he  was,  exclaimed :  We  now  are  crossing 
the  Rapidan  (River).  A  glance  revealed  the  railroad  bridge 
considerably  elevated  above  the  rapidly  flowing  stream,  which 
appeared  fully  a  hundred  feet  wide  and  to  contain  a  good 
volume  of  yellowish-red  water.  The  outlook  was  unob- 
structed, the  banks  gradually  inclined  at  points  while  at  others 
became  rolling  and  precipitous;  the  flow  was  eastward  and 
ultimately  joined  the  Rappahannock  some  ten  miles  this  side 
of  Fredericksburg.  Near  the  railroad  bridge  the  Army  of  the 
Potomac,  General  Meade,  encamped,  September  1863,  taking 
absolute  control  of  the  stream  for  miles,  but  early  in  the  fol- 
lowing spring  it  retired  to  the  north  bank,  when  the  Army  of 
Northern  Virginia,  General  Lee  (Ewell,  etc.)  advanced  to 
occupy  the  south  bank.  We  soon  reached  Rapidan  station, 
not  unlike  many  stopping  places  encountered  that  day,  being 
extremely  simple  and  small,  but  rich  in  wartime  experiences. 
To  this  point  General  Lee  returned  after  the  battle  of  Gettys- 
burg, July  1863,  General  Meade  remaining  at  Culpeper,  and 
the  opposing  cavalry  had  active  engagements  here,  September 
14,  October  10,  while  to  the  left,  at  Martin's  Ford,  the  two 
forces  came  to  bitter  conflict.  We  now  had  only  six  miles  to 
Orange  (Court  House)  through  a  succession  of  well-cultivated 
farms  of  irregular  undulating  surface  with  visible  running 
streams.  I  accepted  the  few  minutes'  stop  in  walking  the 
length  of  the  platform  seeking  various  viewpoints  of  the  quaint 
town,  in  appearance  of  good  size  and  not  unlike  Culpeper  in 
general  activity  about  the  station,  as  here  was  also  to  be  en- 
countered a  variety  of  quiet  onlookers  and  more  active  vend- 
ers proclaiming  loudly  the  quality  and  prices  of  tempting 
edibles.  One  fancied  he  could  see  at  every  turn  traces  of  the 
war,  since  intervening  time  had  apparently  brought  no  recov- 
ery from  drains  then  made — for  she  as  conspicuously  as  any 
other  point  had  kept  life,  to  her  own  depletion,  in  the  contend- 


University — Chemical  Laboratory 
(Erected  1868-69) 


University — Mechanical  Laboratory 

(Erected  1896-98) 


FACING    190 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  191 

ing  armies.  It  was  the  county-seat  of  a  rich  agricultural  dis- 
trict, and  the  few  modern  buildings  presented  happy  contrast 
with  the  prevailing  plain  and  uniform  structures.  General 
Lee,  spring  of  1864,  nad  headquarters  about  two  miles  north- 
east of  the  town,  and  various  divisions  of  his  army  had  often 
stacked  arms  temporarily  in  the  Main  Street  seeking  needed 
rest. 

The  distance  to  Gordonsville  was  nine  miles  with  one  stop 
about  midway,  Madison,  named  after  the  President  and  not 
far  from  his  former  home,  Montpelier.  Upon  leaving 
Orange  we  at  once  passed  on  our  right  the  base  of  the  largest 
hill  so  far  encountered,  but  these  now  continued  to  grow  in 
frequency  and  size  until  the  end  of  our  journey.  The  land 
no  longer  seemed  so  well  adapted  for  best  agricultural  results, 
nor  was  it  so  highly  cultivated  and  treated  as  around  Culpeper, 
Rapidan  and  Orange — farmers  being  less  careful  of  outbuild- 
ings, dividing  fences,  ravine  banks,  and  homes,  which  were  of 
less  expensive  style  and  type.  Gordonsville  itself  apparently 
possessed  nothing  to  attract  a  stranger,  as  only  a  good-sized 
whitewashed  hotel  paralleled  the  tracks  and  a  platform  beyond 
ordinary  dimensions  accommodated  traffic.  While  a  few 
stores  and  numerous  small  whitewashed  houses  indicated  the 
town,  yet  it  did  possess  more  than  ordinary  significance  as 
the  point  of  intersection  of  our  railroad  (Orange  and  Alex- 
andria) with  the  Central  (Chesapeake  and  Ohio).  For  years 
the  former  road  only  extended  to  Orange,  but  a  connecting 
link  of  nine  miles  was  built,  in  order  to  use  conjointly,  by 
traffic  arrangements,  the  Central's  track  for  the  next  twenty- 
one  miles — Gordonsville  to  Charlottesville — whence  its  own 
trunk  line  continued  southward  to  Lynchburg.  Thus  a  junc- 
tion of  two  important  railroads  Gordonsville  was  protected 
amply  during  the  war  as  it  was  of  great  strategic  value  to  the 
Army  of  Northern  Virginia.  Various  divisions  were  passing 
and  repassing  almost  continuously;  General  Lee  spent  there 
August,  1862,  and  later  accepted  headquarters  for  the  winter, 
while  General  Longstreet  followed  the  example  during  the 
winter  and  spring  of  1864;  General  Jackson  was  not  an  in- 
frequent visitor,  and  indeed  a  considerable  battle  was  fought 
nearby,  December  28,  1864.  Apart  from  its  former  activity 
it  seemed  yet  a  busy  place,  for  within  the  hour  of  our  arrival 


i92  UNIVERSITY    OF   VIRGINIA 

four  trains,  when  on  schedule  time  reached  that  point  caus- 
ing many  persons  to  loiter  around  the  station.  Among  these 
not  a  few  were  young  students  shaking  hands  with  one 
another,  filled  with  kindly  expressions  over  renewed  associa- 
tion. With  some  the  meeting  evidently  was  by  accident,  with 
others  by  arrangement,  presenting  altogether  a  veritable  love- 
feast — a  happy  exchange  of  radiant  smiles  and  fraternity 
grips.  Who  they  were  and  whither  bound  found  ready 
answer  in  casually  observing  the  frank  and  audible  conversa- 
tion in  no  wise  intended  for  themselves  alone.  The  Richmond 
train,  bearing  its  contingent  of  old  and  new  University 
students,  had  arrived  a  few  minutes  before  our  Washington 
train,  causing  that  youthful  multitude  to  be  grouped  together 
hjere  and  there  on  the  platform  awaiting  those  we  brought 
along — so  it  was  the  reunion  of  familiar  forms  and  faces  from 
various  sections  of  Virginia  that  occasioned  the  excessive 
hilarity  with  its  outside  notice.  It  was  then  for  the  first  time 
that  I  sadly  realized  what  it  was  to  be  a  freshman — unknown 
in  an  unknown  land — barred,  as  I  then  erroneously  thought,  by 
a  code  of  college  ethics  from  making  advances  to  upper  class- 
men. Above  all  merriment  and  sober  reflection,  however, 
came  the  ever  distracting  element  of  humanity — the  noisy  and 
by  this  time  less  tolerant  food  venders — even  more  numerous 
and  active  than  at  previous  places,  owing  to  the  lateness  of  the 
hour,  after  midday,  and  the  first  stop  on  the  Central  that  fur- 
nished supplies  to  the  weary  and  hungry  traveler,  that  which 
made  the  demand  and  consumption  somewhat  phenomenal.  A 
piece  of  fried  chicken  and  bread  in  one  hand,  an  egg  and  salt 
in  the  other,  with  more  or  less  greasy  mouth  and  fingers, 
seemed  the  rule  rather  than  exception.  My  Albemarle  pippins 
were  of  the  past,  and  that  ever  ready  organ,  stomach,  for  that 
it  was  in  those  days,  carried  a  craving  for  all  visible  goodies, 
so,  following  the  prevailing  fashion,  I  invested  in  the  Virginia 
fowl.  As  I  now  revert  to  that  occasion  and  investment  it 
brings  a  certain  sense  of  delight — the  satisfaction  of  having 
filled  the  aching  void  with  the  true  non-flying  bird.  Yes,  no 
one  need  wish  for  better  than  that  prepared  in  that  day  and 
place  by  the  elder  generation  of  faithful  colored  cooks. 


CHAPTER    X 

ARRIVAL  AT  THE  UNIVERSITY — MR.  JEFFERSON'S  CHILD  AND 

PET 

Last  twenty-one  miles — Gordonsville  to  Charlottesville ;  Lindseys,  Kes- 
wick,  Rivanna  River,  Shadwell — Mr.  Jefferson's  birthplace — Monti- 
cello,  his  home  and  place  of  burial ;  Charlottesville — friendly  greeting 
of  students;  arrival  at  the  University;  meeting  the  Proctor,  Major 
Peyton,  and  the  Chairman,  Colonel  Venable,  with  whom  I  dined; 
letter  from  Colonel  Charles  Marshall ;  selecting  room ;  passing  of  the 
first  few  days ;  first  letter  home ;  University  work  selected  and  begun 
— its  character ;  meeting  students ;  mass  meeting  in  the  Court 
House,  etc. 

AFTER  a  restless  stop  of  ten  minutes  at  Gordonsville  we 
found  ourselves  curving  slowly  with  screeching  noise  upon  the 
"  Chesapeake  and  Ohio  "  track,  to  be  increased  shortly  beyond 
our  accustomed  speed,  as  the  roadbed  was  evidently  of  higher 
order  than  that  already  passed  over,  while  the  rails  seemed 
heavier  and  firmer — indeed,  made  of  steel  and  of  English  im- 
portation according  to  my  informant.  This  reconciled  me  to 
the  quicker  service  now  enjoyed,  that  which  would  have  made 
acceptable  a  greater  distance  than  the  twenty-one  miles  yet 
to  be  covered,  including  the  three  stops — Lindseys  (Cobham), 
Keswick  and  Shadwell,  six,  fourteen  and  eighteen  miles  re- 
spectively. The  road  now  entered  a  more  rugged  and  hilly 
territory  with  scarcely  a  half  mile  curveless,  some  short  and 
on  grade,  while  the  land  gave  evidence  of  richness,  but  the 
kind  farmers  care  little  to  cultivate  save  in  the  absence  of  less 
rough  and  rocky.  Lindseys,  a  small  station  around  which  the 
hand  of  industry  appeared  active,  came  shortly  in  sight,  as 
did  within  the  next  fifteen  minutes  a  larger  village,  Keswick, 
nestled  even  in  a  more  thriving  neighborhood,  where  preten- 
tious homes  crowned  the  surrounding  hilltops  and  inclines. 
Our  route  lay  at  the  base  and  between  slopes  of  a  hundred 
or  more  feet,  then  in  the  open  or  through  deep  artificial  cuts 
of  solid  rocks  concealing  in  passing  our  train  from  landscape 

193 


i94  UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA 

views,  and  contributing  a  disagreeable  weird  resonance  from 
which  one  is  always  glad  to  make  escape.  A  glimpse  of  an 
occasional  cascade,  entire  or  part,  following  abrupt  declivities 
could  be  caught  in  shade  and  sunlight,  while  a  rapidly  running 
stream  often  added  picturesqueness  to  the  scene.  Suddenly 
we  came  to  hug  for  a  mile  or  two  the  north  (east)  bank  of 
the  Rivanna  River,  when  every  moment  brought  us  nearer  to 
a  mountain  base  on  our  left,  whose  lofty  altitude  continued  to 
overshadow  more  and  more  our  onward  path.  The  stop  at 
Sruadwell  of  a  minute  sufficed  ( to  give  those  on  the  alert  an 
idea  of  Mr.  Jefferson's  birth-place — the  estate  inherited  from 
his  father,  which  gradually  lifted  itself  in  irregular  nodules 
of  gently  declining  sides  to  the  north  (east)  of  the  station  and 
stream,  whose  rapid  flow  towards  the  James  through  hills 
and  valleys  afforded  in  the  distance  a  panorama  of  an  im- 
mense rolling  plain  relieved  by  a  fading  yellow  line.  Slightly 
to  the  southwest  towered  above  us  some  six  hundred  feet  the 
graceful  little  mountain,  Monticello,  carrying  upon  its  summit 
in  clear  outline  the  majestic  home  built  by  the  immortal  Jef- 
ferson, while  just  opposite  the  waving  crests  in  the  northwest 
ascended  even  higher  to  vanish  in  the  distance  from  the  bluish 
horizon.  Onward  we  sped  encountering  the  mountain  sides 
studded  with  stately  trees  and  dense  foliage,  with  scarcely 
diminished  size  and  quantity  towards  the  apex,  immense  over- 
hanging boulders  projecting  their  rugged  faces  partly  covered 
with  moss  and  indigenous  ferns,  persistent  autumnal  leaves 
assuming  beautiful  variegated  tints,  the  brilliant  shining  sun 
diffusing  its  caloric  rays  from  the  western  quarter  causing 
shadows  to  fall  now  and  then  at  various  angles  as  the  train 
tortuously  "  drew  its  slow  length  along."  A  moment  we  were  in 
the  clear,  then  lost  to  all  save  noise  and  a  mountainous  passage. 
Surely  these  last  few  miles  afforded  a  succession  of  pictur- 
esque surroundings  in  joyous  contrast  with  anything  encoun- 
tered during  the  day,  while  none  was  quite  as  impressive  as 
that,  after  hugging  the  river's  northern  bank,  of  grading 
above  the  water-level  nearly  a  hundred  feet  to  pass  over  the 
stream  by  a  long  substantial  unobstructed  iron  bridge.  Thus 
suspended  apparently  amid  air,  the  view  of  the  river  north- 
ward was  somewhat  unique,  revealing  in  the  foreground  a 
high  dam  across  the  entire  width,  over  which  rolled  in 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  195 

lively  fashion  a  large  volume  of  reddish-yellow  opaque  water, 
while  above  (northward),  until  broken  by  a  right  divergence, 
appeared  a  smooth  continuous  golden  sheet.  Below  (south- 
ward) the  river-bed  revealed  many  rocky  boulders  of  varying 
size,  around  which  turbulent  waters  rushed  and  spouted — 
for  the  autumn  equinox  had  spent  itself  only  a  few  days 
before,  giving  mountain  streams  excessive  volume  and  swift- 
ness, thereby  causing  the  Rivanna  to  betray  its  ordinary  form 
and  habit.  At  the  western  terminus  of  the  "  long  bridge  " 
loomed  up  on  our  left  a  large  factory  building,  Charlottes- 
ville  Woolen  Mills,  whose  running  power  was  supplied  mostly 
by  the  waters  beyond  the  retaining  dam.  We  were  now  ap- 
proaching our  last  milestone,  and  for  that  distance  I  stood  at 
the  rear  car  door  in  order  to  gaze  at  Monticello  from  the  best 
exposed  position.  Often  the  deep  cuts  broke  the  level  view 
only  to  reveal  in  the  clear  the  entire  landscape  to  be  a  con- 
tinuous table-land  composed  of  highly  cultivated  fields  of  an 
irregular  rolling  surface,  ornamented  here  and  there  with 
pleasant  arbored  homes.  It  was  the  Piedmont  Valley  unfold- 
ing itself  in  beautiful  panorama. 

One  long  shrill  blast  from  the  engine,  the  passing  of  outlying 
buildings,  and  the  retarding  speed  brought  a  recognition  of 
my  approaching  destination,  confirmed  in  a  few  moments  by 
the  brakeman  swinging'  open  the  doors  and  loudly  calling  out 
several  times,  "  Charlottesville."  We  were  entering  the  town 
at  a  very  slow  pace,  with  engine  bell  rhythmically  pealing  its 
note  of  warning  and  the  car-wheels  accenting  the  friction  of 
hand-applied  brakes.  But  above  all  could  be  heard  distinctly 
the  penetrating  sound  of  a  gong,  which  I  soon  saw  to  be  of 
good  size  and  manipulated  vigorously  by  a  stalwart  man  of 
color,  wearing  highly  polished  brass  insignia  in  front  of  his 
cap  and  on  the  lapel  of  his  coat.  Added  to  this  unwelcome 
noise  came  that  of  many  voices  uttering  names  and  expressions 
to  me  thoroughly  unfamiliar — "  Central  Hotel ;  "  "  Parish 
House;"  "Monticello  Hotel;"  "Hack,  Sir;"  "Buss,  Boss;" 
"  Right  up  to  the  University,"  etc.  Amid  such  confusion  and 
pandemonium  our  train  came  to  a  standstill,  my  car's  forward 
platform  just  edging  up  to  the  east  flagging  of  the  Central  Ho- 
tel, whose  sign  I  easily  read  from  the  car  platform  with  grip 
and  umbrella  in  hand,  but  lost  sight  of  in  descending  to  the 


196  UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA 

pavement,  since  then  the  din  appeared  to  grow  stronger  and  I 
found  myself  surrounded  by  all  shades  of  drivers  and  hotel  so- 
licitors. The  depot  building  was  brick,  one  story,  many  years 
old,  on  the  west  side  of  the  track,  but  south  side  of  Main  Street, 
and  along  the  entire  width  together  with  considerable  street 
space  westward  stood  a  line  of  various  styled  vehicles  awaiting 
patronage.  I  quickly  scanned  the  array — apparently  belonging 
to  a  different  period  than  that  in  which  "  we  lived,  moved  and 
had  our  being."  While  to  have  singled  out  the  special  one 
used  by  Mr.  Jefferson,  or  the  driver  that  had  served  him  at 
Monticello,  fifty  years  before,  was  more  than  an  ordinary  task, 
yet  the  majority  looked  equal  to  that  service.  Indeed,  all  these 
so  styled  hacks  were  heavy,  unwieldy,  old  and  dilapidated, 
having  experienced  many  years  of  constant  use  as  well  as  abuse, 
while  the  occupants  of  the  boxes  possessed  silvered  heads — hav- 
ing grown  decrepit  in  faithful  bondage.  One  of  these  from 
polite  salutation  and  urgent  solicitations  appealed  especially 
to  me,  and  to  him  I  passed  over  my  traps  and  baggage  check, 
never  a  moment  questioning  integrity  or  trustfulness.  In  a 
few  minutes,  however,  with  my  identification,  he  produced  the 
trunk,  which,  by  a  knack  familiar  to  those  of  his  craft,  was 
landed  from  the  shoulder  to  a  place  high  up  in  front  near 
where  he  was  to  sit  and  drive.  In  the  wait  I  saw  at  least  a 
hundred  students,  some  who  had  journeyed  along  with  me, 
others  who,  having  arrived  at  earlier  hours,  were  there  to 
greet  the  return  of  fellow  classmates.  On  every  side  unusual 
rejoicing  prevailed  as  friendly  faces  renewed  their  quondam 
smile  and  hands  their  secret  grasp.  Cheery  laughter  rang  out 
on  every  side,  frenzying  the  atmosphere  with  the  best  social 
qualities  of  youth,  and  impressing  the  stranger  that  above  all 
things  the  most  loyal  friendship  pervaded  those  attending 
the  University.  The  hacks  were  soon  filled,  leaving  a  large 
walking  contingent,  chiefly  from  choice,  as  riding  proved 
a  rare  indulgence  by  the  old  and  thoroughly  familiar 
students. 

Our  procession  headed  westward  up  a  short  easy  grade, 
curving  slightly  leftward  to  follow  in  a  straight  line  the  Main 
Street  for  a  half  mile,  then  veered  leftward  up  a  short  ascent, 
Vinegar  Hill  (Collis  Acetum),  along  a  roadbed  elevated  thirty 
feet  above  the  street  level  in  the  town,  at  first  southwest  for 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  197 

a  hundred  or  more  yards,  thence  to  the  right,  westward,  for 
a  mile,  at  which  distance  the  buildings,  trees  and  outlying 
grounds  of  the  University  could  plainly  be  seen.  This  much 
traveled  boulevard  was  practically  level  and  straight,  although 
just  before  reaching  the  railroad  crossing  near  the  entrance 
to  the  University  precinct  it  made  a  slight  divergence  to  the 
right — northwest.  After  engaging  at  the  depot  the  carriage 
and  placing  therein  my  hand  effects,  I  aided  the  driver  some- 
what in  designating  my  trunk  among  the  many,  and  upon  re- 
turning to  take  my  seat  found  sitting  within  a  lady  dressed  in 
black.  Her  hair  was  arranged  neatly,  but  severely  plain, 
curving  from  a  distinct  middle  part  to  slightly  cover  a  decid- 
edly intelligent  forehead;  the  face  was  kind  and  expressive, 
but  to  me  a  trifle  sad — as  though  she  carried  years  of  weighty 
responsibility.  Having  thrown  carelessly  my  light  luggage 
upon  the  rear  seat,  she  was  occupying  the  front  one  until  I 
insisted  on  an  exchange — a  suggestion  readily  accepted  with 
an  avowed  apology  for  trespassing  knowingly  in  a  pre-engaged 
vehicle,  but  in  the  dilemma  of  none  other,  "  necessity  knew  no 
law."  Thereafter  we  shared  the  rear  seat,  and  she  soon 
brightened  into  conversation  upon  University  matters  to  my 
benefit  and  pleasure.  My  prospective  course,  preparation, 
day's  journey  and  even  family  came  in  as  agreeable  topics, 
and  in  spite  of  the  rattling  conveyance  giving  annoyance  as  it 
bounded  heedlessly  over  cobbles  of  various  size,  the  end  of  the 
ride  came  too  quickly.  As  the  driver  made  his  first  right-angle 
turn  leftward  at  Wash.  Hall  he  came  to  a  stop,  when  the  lady 
remarked :  I  leave  you  here.  At  once  I  alighted,  held  open 
the  door,  assisted  her  to  the  pavement,  and  expressed  my  good 
fortune  in  having  had  her  as  a  companion  and  the  desire  for 
her  name,  she  being  the  first  lady  with  whom  I  had  enjoyed  a 
conversation  in  Virginia.  She  withdrew  smilingly  and  said: 
"  I  am  Mrs.  Davis,  wife  of  one  of  the  professors  "  (Dr.  John 
Staige  Davis). 

I  re-entered  the  carriage  only  for  a  few  hundred  feet,  Proc- 
tor's office,  midway  this  (east)  range  of  buildings  that  paral- 
leled the  driveway.  The  door  stood  open,  indicative  of  the 
mild  temperature  without,  the  hospitable  sentiment  within, 
and  on  the  pavement  in  front  were  several  trunks  to  which  my 
own  was  added.  Upon  entering  the  office  I  saw,  seated  behind 


198  UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA 

a  long  table  covered  with  green  baize,  a  handsome  middle- 
aged  gentleman  with  florid  complexion  and  tall  figure,  Major 
Green  Peyton,  surrounded  by  a  half  dozen  students,  who  in 
turn  were  arranging  for  rooms  and  tuition.  While  waiting 
I  observed  the  doings  of  those  ahead  and  followed  their 
example  by  introducing  myself  and  explaining  my  wants.  I 
spoke  of  my  correspondence  with  the  Chairman,  to  whose  office 
I  wished  to  be  directed,  and  expressed  the  desire  for  a  quietly 
located  room,  and  although  other  students  in  this  time  had 
joined  our  ranks,  standing  around  impatiently,  he  in  an 
affable,  obliging  and  deliberate  manner  supplied  every  pos- 
sible detail.  Assured  of  my  trunk's  safety  I  followed  his 
directions  to  the  Chairman's  office,  by  turning  left  outside  of 
the  door,  proceeding  up  the  range  a  hundred  or  more  feet, 
swinging  left  at  right  angle  along  a  gradual  incline  of  several 
hundred  feet  to  the  rear  of  a  parallel  row  of  buildings  at  a 
higher  elevation — reaching  their  front  by  a  ten-foot  opening 
flanked  by  a  dozen  steps,  thereby  coming  for  the  first  time 
upon  the  "  Lawn."  Here  I  turned  right,  ascended  a  half 
dozen  stone  steps,  and  continued  forward  a  hundred  yards  to 
room  No.  8,  whose  location  I  prejudged  in  the  distance 
from  the  line  of  young  men  filed  out  on  the  pavement.  I  found, 
as  at  the  Proctor's  office,  the  door  wide  open  revealing  a  mod- 
erate-sized desk  backed  against  the  north  wall,  with  an  ordi- 
nary large  office  chair  in  front  occupied  by  a  middle-aged  gen- 
tleman inclined  to  be  fleshy.  As  he  sat  there  one  could  readily 
catch  his  back  and  side  view,  and  when  turning  occasionally  his 
head  towards  the  door  the  strong  facial  features  became  dis- 
tinctly visible  and  impressive.  At  least  ten  students  were 
ahead  of  me,  and  feeling  no  hurry  in  taking  position  in  line 
until  several  others  were  about  to  join,  I  passed  some  minutes 
viewing  the  beautiful  terraced  Lawn  adorned  with  its  impos- 
'ing  pantheonic  Rotunda,  towering  white  columns  and  long 
colonnades.  One  by  one  the  numbers  faded  until  I  myself 
faced  the  Chairman,  who  spoke  to  me,  as  I  observed  he  had 
to  the  others,  with  a  kindly  smile  and  a  deliberate  deep-toned 
voice :  "  Well,  it  is  your  turn  next."  To  which  I  replied : 
"  Yes  Sir,  I  believe  so  " — at  the  same  time  reaching  in  my  side 
pocket  for  the  letter  of  introduction  my  Uncle  had  given  me 
the  afternoon  before  and  placing  it  in  his  hand.  Being  un- 


UNIVERSITY  OF  VIRGINIA  199 

sealed  and  bearing  his  name  he  quickly  unfolded  it  to  reveal 
the  contents: 

BALTIMORE,  MARYLAND,  Sept.  27th,  1872. 
My  dear  Col.  V enable: 

On  behalf  of  my  personal  friend,  Mr.  Luther  M.  Reynolds,  a  leading 
member  of  our  Baltimore  Bar,  I  take  great  pleasure  in  introducing  to 
you  his  nephew,  David  M.  R.  Culbreth,  the  bearer  of  this  letter,  who  is 
about  to  enter  the  University.  I  bespeak  for  this  young  man  while  with 
you,  your  kind  consideration,  assuring  you  that  any  courtesies  extended 
will  be  appreciated  highly  by  him,  his  uncle  and  your  sincere  friend. 

CHARLES  MARSHALL, 
N.  E.  Cor.  St.  Paul  and  Saratoga  Sts. 

Although  I  had  read  the  letter  several  times,  neither  the 
contents  nor  the  attached  names  conveyed  to  me  any  special 
significance  beyond  a  friendly  indorsement  and  a  happy  me- 
dium of  making  acquainted  two  strangers  from  a  social  stand- 
point. It  was  written  on  small-sized  letter  paper,  in  a  legible 
open  hand  with  letters  carelessly  formed,  and  from  its  bold- 
ness covered  nearly  two  pages.  As  Colonel  Venable  glanced 
at  the  chirography  I  noticed  a  facial  brightness — though 
something  pleasant  had  half  taken  possession  of  his  mind — 
and  upon  reading  only  a  few  lines  turned  the  page  suddenly  to 
catch  the  name  evidently  anticipated — a  revelation  that  brought 
him  to  his  feet  and  caused  him  to  take  me  most  cordially  by 
the  hand  nearly  forgetting  my  name.  He  then  adapted  the 
following  words  to  his  heartfelt  action :  "  My  dear  young  man, 
I  am  delighted  to  see  you,  and  equally  glad  to  have  a  line  from 
my  true  and  tried  friend,  Colonel  Marshall.  I  shall  ask  you 
to  be  seated  here  by  the  window  until  I  finish  with  these  young 
men,  when  I  shall  be  free  and  will  want  you  to  go  dine  with 
me."  I  thanked  him,  stating  that  my  Gordonsville  lunch  had 
been  quite  substantial.  But  he  replied :  "  I  am  sure  you  have 
room  for  something  more." 

Within  a  half-hour  the  last  student  bid  good  afternoon, 
when  the  Colonel,  after  arranging  a  few  papers,  again  picked 
up  the  letter  I  had  given  him,  re-read  it  and  remarked :  "  I 
scarcely  know  which  affords  me  more  pleasure,  to  greet  a 
new  student  or  receive  a  letter  from  Colonel  Marshall,  for,  as 
possibly  you  know,  we  were  associated  together  in  the  war  on 
General  Lee's  staff,  and  have  had  in  common  many  trying 
and  exciting  experiences."  He  referred  to  the  several  letters 
which  had  passed  between  us  during  the  past  few  months,  and 


200  UNIVERSITY    OF   VIRGINIA 

expressed  regret  that  Delaware  had  sent  so  few  students  to 
the  University  in  recent  years — indeed  only  two,  Messrs. 
Mitchell  and  Martin.  The  key  of  the  office  door  turned  and 
we  were  soon  off  for  his  home,  Monroe  Hill,  possibly  a  sixth 
of  a  mile  distant,  when  he  remarked :  "  As  we  go  along  some 
of  the  room  doors  will  be  open,  and,  although  they  are  either 
occupied  or  engaged,  you  can  catch  a  glimpse  of  their  general 
condition  and  arrangement.  I  want  to  see  you  well  and  suit- 
ably located,  so  after  dinner  we  will  consult  Major  Peyton  as 
to  the  best  available  rooms."  I  then  handed  him  the  list  the 
Major  had  given  me  an  hour  before,  but  after  looking  it  over 
he  seemed  to  think  we  together  might  do  something  better. 
Our  route  was  a  trifle  circuitous — down  East  Lawn  colonnade 
to  the  base  of  the  first  terrace,  across  to  West  Lawn,  to  the  last 
pavilion,  Dr.  McGuffey's,  turning  right  through  a  narrow 
opening  in  the  building,  down  a  few  stone  steps,  then  on  the 
level  several  hundred  feet  by  the  side  of  a  serpentine  wall  to 
West  Range,  at  whose  southern  terminus  descending  a  num- 
ber of  stone  steps,  crossing  the  public  road  and  following  its 
west  side  by  a  narrow  gravel  walk,  having  a  board  fence  on 
the  right  but  unprotected  on  the  left  from  the  roadbed  that 
lay  several  feet  below.  Within  a  hundred  yards  we  turned 
abruptly  to  the  right  and  approached  his  home  over  a  gradu- 
ally rising  lawn,  during  which  he  remarked :  "  This  house 
possesses  at  least  one  point  of  historic  interest,  in  that  it  was 
for  some  time  the  office  and  home  of  Ex-President  James  Mon- 
roe— the  years  he  practiced  law  in  Charlottesville  and  the  ad- 
joining courts."  The  main  front  building  was  brick  covered 
with  yellowish-gray  plaster,  two  stories,  with  a  frontage  of 
forty  feet,  a  depth  of  thirty,  and  a  slightly  pointed  tin  roof. 
The  entrance  door  was  central,  approached  by  several  wooden 
steps  attached  to  a  small  uncovered  railless  platform  of  similar 
material.  We  entered  a  good-sized  hallway,  thence  a  parlor  on 
the  right  (north),  plainly  but  attractively  furnished  with  square 
piano,  sofa,  table,  chairs  and  a  number  of  family  portraits, 
including  General  Lee's.  The  floors  were  without  rugs  or 
carpets — simply  stained  dark  with  dull  finish.  The  colored 
butler,  middle-aged,  compactly  built,  quiet  and  respectful, 
soon  announced  dinner,  which  was  served  in  the  dining-room, 
just  opposite  to  (south)  and  a  counterpart  of  the  parlor.  The 


§ 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  201 

table  was  about  four  and  a  half  feet  square  and  we  sat  facing 
each  other,  he  south  and  I  north,  while  the  dinner  consisted  of 
a  fine  broiler,  corn  cut  from  the  cob  and  cooked  in  a  dish  with 
egg — to  which  I  made  my  first  acquaintance — sweet  potatoes 
and  Lima  beans.  A  bottle  of  red  wine  stood  loosely  corked, 
which  I  declined  when  offered,  only  to  cause  him  to  explain 
its  lightness  and  agreeable  taste.  I,  however,  was  positive, 
stating  that  my  training  had  been  entirely  without  stimulants, 
had  no  desire  for  them,  and  at  that  stage  of  my  career  thought 
it  wise  not  to  indulge  their  use  for  fear  of  possible  abuse.  He 
expressed  some  surprise,  commended  my  firmness,  and  drank 
none  himself.  I  ate  heartily  of  the  substantiate,  as  everything 
was  cooked  and  served  to  a  turn,  consequently  the  delicious 
looking  grapes  and  pears  that  followed,  apparently  the  very 
best,  suffered  little  by  their  presence.  Thus  it  happened,  that 
my  first  meal  in  Virginia  was  with  the  Chairman  of  her  Uni- 
versity, a  former  aide-de-camp  to  General  Lee  and  in  the  house 
once  the  home  of  President  Monroe. 

Shortly  after  dinner  Colonel  Venable  suggested  the  pro- 
posed visit  to  the  Proctor's  office,  which  we  made  and  there- 
after inspected  rooms  on  West  Lawn,  Dawson's  Row  and 
Monroe  Hill — the  latter  location  appearing  to  please  him  most 
owing  to  its  perfect  quietness  and  freedom  from  various 
distractions.  I  so  well  remember  him  pacing  the  floor  of  the 
corner  room  forming  the  right-angle  of  that  group,  and  claim- 
ing for  it  the  three  best  requisites — abundant  space,  light  and 
air — but  when  I  spoke  of  the  outlook  west  on  to  the  Blue 
Ridge,  though  beautiful,  being  so  bleak  and  cheerless  in  win- 
ter, he  concluded  I  was  determined  to  have  something  with  a 
southern  or  eastern  exposure.  He  positively  discountenanced 
the  Lawn  from  the  constant  tread  of  passers-by  and  possible 
interlopers,  although  I  expressed  the  likelihood  of  one  becom- 
ing accustomed  to  that  and  commented  upon  the  favorable 
point — nearness  to  recitation  rooms — not  to  be  despised  in  bad 
weather.  We  retraced  our  steps  to  the  Proctor's,  talked  mat- 
ters over,  and  selected  Dawson's  Row,  House  "  B,"  first  floor, 
front  east  room,  and  at  once  matriculated  paying  in  currency 
two  hundred  and  thirty  dollars  and  fifty  cents.  A  colored 
man  was  called  to  take  charge  of  my  trunk,  and  to  see  that 
the  room  was  made  ready  for  immediate  occupancy,  conse- 


202  UNIVERSITY    OF   VIRGINIA 

quently  6  o'ck.  found  me  landed  bag  and  baggage  in  my 
new  quarters,  which  I  at  once  began  to  make  a  little  homelike 
by  properly  arranging  the  few  things  brought  along  for  that 
purpose.  Owing  to  the  many  attempts  at  eating  during  the 
day,  my  late  dinner,  and  some  tempting  eatables  in  my  trunk,  I 
determined  to  cut  out  supper  in  order  to  get  thoroughly  un- 
packed and  settled.  It  was  truly  fortunate  that  hunger  proved 
no  contending  element  that  night,  as  none  of  the  University 
boarding  houses  (mess  halls)  were  open,  nor  would  be  until 
the  following  Tuesday,  and  for  me,  a  stranger,  to  have  been 
compelled  to  grope  in  darkness  along  unknown  rugged  paths 
in  search  of  town  or  nearby  hotel  would  have  meant  consid- 
erable annoyance  and  consumption  of  time. 

The  keeping  of  a  diary  was  a  great  fad  at  the  Seminary 
where  I  had  seen  and  read  frequently  those  of  others,  and  al- 
though this  familiarity  served  rather  to  condemn  than  com- 
mend the  custom,  especially  among  those  absorbed  in  more 
serious  matters,  as  the  usual  contents  were  commonplace  and 
circumscribed  by  a  monotonous  student  life,  barren  of  historic 
incidents  and  personages,  yet  this  day  had  been  so  resourceful 
and  memorable  that  I  concluded  its  last  two  hours  should  be 
spent  in  summarizing  my  chief  experiences,  and  in  reducing 
the  same  to  writing  in  a  small  volume  purchased  several 
months  before  for  the  purpose — a  practice  continued  daily 
until  the  following  spring  when  studies  so  crowded  my  time 
that  thereafter  its  continuance  was  with  great  irregularity. 
The  strain  of  the  first  day  in  Virginia  was  far  beyond  the 
usual,  so  that  in  spite  of  the  narrow  springless  couch  that  car- 
ried my  outstretched  aching  form,  sweet  sleep  soon  came  and 
continued  into  the  brightness  of  the  morrow.  The  next  day, 
Sunday,  was  ushered  in  with  dampness  and  fog,  so  while 
dressing  I  concluded  sorrowfully  the  outcome  to  be  rain — 
that  in  a  strange  place  I  was  to  be  denied  my  only  cheering 
friend,  sunshine,  then,  of  all  times,  most  needed  and  desired. 
Happily  I  was  a  poor  weather-prophet  in  mountainous  dis- 
tricts, as  by  noon  the  mist  lifted  and  the  sun  shone  forth  with 
more  than  usual  power  and  brilliancy. 

It  was  something  after  7  o'ck,  when,  having  made  inquiry 
of  my  room  attendant  concerning  available  places  for  table 
board  and  direction  thereto,  I  heard  a  rap  at  my  door,  which 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  203 

upon  opening  I  found  to  be  a  fellow  student  well  and  neatly 
dressed  bearing  a  pleasant  word  and  smile.  After  friendly 
salutations  he  inquired  my  plans  for  breakfast,  and,  finding 
these  undecided,  at  once  suggested  our  going  together,  for  said 
he:  "I  have  already  made  a  happy  selection — McKennie's — 
in  spite  of  me  being  right  hard  to  please."  Surely  this  kind 
messenger  was  Godgiven  and  timely,  as  he  dispelled  fore- 
boding clouds  and  brought  untold  comfort  to  a  callow  youth 
hundreds  of  miles  from  familiar  scenes,  faces  and  names — 
for  the  first  time  in  touch  with  the  cold  and  austere  world. 
He  was  my  next-door  neighbor  and  the  first  student  with 
whom  I  exchanged  a  word — a  fact  causing  me  to  hold  him 
ever  since  in  grateful  remembrance.  His  opportunities,  ad- 
vantages and  experiences  had  been  far  in  advance  of  mine, 
and  he  no  longer  possessed  a  youthful  appearance,  although 
it  was  his  initial  year  at  the  University.  He  was  manly  with 
heavy  moustache,  had  enjoyed  extensive  travel  at  home  and 
abroad ;  had  been  reared  in  a  large  city  giving  him  pronounced 
social  characteristics  distinctive  of  the  "  Smart  Set/'  and  able 
to  grace  with  perfect  ease  and  confidence  that  phase  of  society 
in  which  his  life  had  been  ordered.  To  approach  a  stranger 
was  absolutely  to  his  liking,  while  to  pilot  and  encourage  the 
inexperienced  were  pleasurable  ambitions.  Unfortunately  in 
one  sense  his  department  was  medicine,  which,  having  little 
in  common  with  my  own,  accounted  for  us  gradually  drifting 
apart.  But  beyond  that  his  social  nature  occasioned  a  neglect 
of  study — to  enjoy  functions  more  congenial,  those  in  which 
I  was  unable  to  join  from  a  lack  of  time  and  inclination. 
Sadly  enough  nature  is  prone  to  follow  lines  of  least  re- 
sistance, or  to  accept  in  the  daily  walks  of  life  that  which  af- 
fords the  most  immediate  comfort  and  pleasure,  and  to  this 
law  of  inheritance  the  University  student  finds  himself  no 
exception.  Often  he  falls  victim  of  the  tempter — self-indul- 
gence— sometimes  to  the  utter  disregard  of  class  work,  which 
persisted  in,  usually  brings  its  measure  of  sorrow,  but  corre- 
sponding joy  when  desisted  from,  through  solicitations  of  fel- 
low classmates  or  self-assertive  power  aroused  by  a  conceived 
duty  to  parents  or  others  having  in  him  bright  hopes  and  cor- 
dial interests.  The  beginning  of  a  University  course  may  be 
thoroughly  congenial  and  highly  satisfactory  in  every  respect, 


204  UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA 

since  the  amount  of  material  covered  by  each  lecture  does  not 
seem  for  a  while  beyond  reason  and  comprehension.  To  keep 
up  for  a  few  months  is  not  found  overtaxing,  but  as  the  lectures 
follow  each  other  in  quick  succession  month  after  month, 
unless  most  of  the  available  moments  have  been  turned  to 
proper  account,  one  is  caught  bewildered  in  the  enormous 
maze  of  the  unknown,  resulting  often  in  discouragement,  even 
a  disinclination  to  hold  up  his  end  of  the  line.  It  was,  there- 
fore, no  great  surprise  when  I  learned  that  my  friend,  in  spite 
of  his  creditable  record  early  in  the  session,  had  given  away 
to  positive  indifference.  But  the  going  wrong  of  a  companion, 
beyond  passing  regret,  figures  little  as  a  rule  to  those  possess- 
ing tenacious  ambition  and  the  quality  of  acquiring  close 
friendships,  as  it  is  a  very  brief  spell  at  any  institution  wherein 
an  honest  and  capable  worker  has  only  one  friend. 

First  Home-letter,  Sunday  night,  September  29,  1872.  My  dear 
Mother:  I  reached  here  safely  yesterday  afternoon,  and  was  fortunate 
enough  to  secure  a  room  without  much  trouble  having  two  windows — one 
east,  the  other  south — which  will  give  delightful  sunlight  in  winter  and 
southern  breezes  in  summer.  The  bare  floor  and  white  walls  look  very 
cheerless  compared  with  home,  but  a  few  pieces  of  furniture  and  a  carpet 
I  intend  to  purchase  during  the  week  will  add  much  to  the  comfort.  While 
a  student  is  supposed  to  need  little  else  than  books  he  must  have  accus- 
tomed surroundings  for  best  work.  .  .  .  This  morning  I  attended  the 
Episcopal  Church  in  Charlottesville — a  building  of  many  years,  with  gal- 
lery on  two  sides  and  end,  and  usual  roomy  chancel.  My  seat  was  far 
in  the  rear,  so  failed  to  catch  the  minister's  connected  theme.  Will  go 
further  forward  next  time,  where  you  know  my  inclination  always  prompts, 
but  this  time  gave  way  to  older  heads  and  paid  the  penalty.  Some  people 
seem  contented  to  have  anything,  anyway.  What  a  misfortune  not  to  de- 
sire and  strive  for  the  best  attainable !  .  .  .  I  have  seen  so  much  dur- 
ing the  last  few  days,  new  to  me,  yet  very  old  to  others,  that  it  would  be 
useless  to  make  an  effort,  in  my  feeble  way,  at  description — that  which 
can  only  be  given  viva  voce.  .  .  .  My  trip  to  Baltimore,  stay  at 
Uncle's,  bird's-eye  view  of  Washington,  Capitol,  White  House,  Potomac 
River,  Arlington,  Alexandria,  Bull  Run,  Manassas  with  its  breastworks 
and  cemetery,  Rappahannock,  Culpeper,  Orange,  Cedar  Mountain,  Shad- 
well  and  Monticello,  has  left  an  unfading  picture,  always  to  be  carried  in 
pleasant  memory.  ...  In  passing  through  the  war  district  I  made 
friends  with  the  brakeman,  my  weakness  you  know,  who,  being  intelli- 
gent and  communicative,  gave  much  information  that  was  interesting  and 
startling,  so  I  know  much  more  of  the  great  conflict  than  a  week  ago. 
After  leaving  Alexandria  the  country  soon  began  getting  more  hilly  and 
rugged,  while  on  our  right  a  range  of  mountains,  Blue  Ridge — a  beautiful 
blue  color — could  be  seen  most  of  the  way,  but  in  the  far  distance.  Streams 
of  water  were  numerous,  most  with  rapid  motion  and  all  with  reddish- 
yellow  water,  so  different  from  any  of  ours,  which  under  all  conditions 
are  clear  and  limpid.  .  .  .  It  is  too  early  for  judging  the  University 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  205 

and  my  impression  of  it,  but  I  trust  it  will  measure  up  to  expectations. 
So  far  everything  has  been  strange,  but  at  breakfast,  dinner  and  supper 
met  a  number  of  students  and  several  ladies — Mrs.  McKennie  and  two 
daughters — where  I  am  boarding  temporarily,  until  the  University  hotels 
open  on  Tuesday.  Nothing  familiar  has  come  within  range,  even  the 
colored  men,  women  and  children  seem  different  from  those  at  home — 
more  respectful,  better  mannered  and  dressed — as  those  noticed  show 
humility  to  whites  when  occasion  offers.  ...  I  must  give  you  a  list 
of  expenses  so  far,  which  I  trust  will  not  exceed  your  or  father's  expec- 
tation. Any  way  rest  assured  I  shall  be  as  economical  as  possible,  know- 
ing well  how  difficult  it  is  to  make  that  which  I  am  spending.  .  .  . 

Indeed,  I  found  that  the  first  few  weeks  sufficed  to  develop 
among  the  majority  of  us  very  cordial  relations,  since  the 
going  together  to  and  from  classes,  the  promiscuous  sitting 
by  one  and  then  another,  the  class  recitations  with  success 
and  failure  (curl  or  cork),  the  commingling  for  a  short  while 
after  dinner  at  the  postoffice,  or  just  before  each  meal  in  front 
of  the  boarding  house,  awaiting  the  door  of  the  dining  room 
(mess  hall)  to  be  opened,  the  general  table  talk  indulged 
and  enjoyed,  all  tended  to  break  quickly  the  thin  frigid  film 
so  manifest  at  the  start.  Soon  we  were  comparing  notes  and 
thoughts,  discussing  lectures,  taking  afternoon  walks  into 
the  undulating  country  for  exercise,  or  leisurely  strolling 
towards  the  town  (city)  to  gaze  upon  beauty  in  the  form  of 
lads  and  lassies  out  on  dress  parade — all  simple  within  them- 
selves, yet  sufficient  to  create  mutual  esteem,  nay  more,  strong 
attachment  and  love,  attributes  that  sooner  or  later  tended 
towards  fraternal  propinquity,  that  when  established  assuring 
much  in  harmony  with  a  genial  soul.  It  was  true  that  the 
satisfactory  passing  of  the  first  days  entailed  most  effort, 
flavored  as  they  were  with  a  degree  of  " mat  du  pays"  owing 
to  the  utter  strangeness  and  the  absence  of  work,  but  happily 
an  abundance  of  the  latter  was  soon  forthcoming,  giving  food 
for  study  and  reflection,  and  establishing  an  interest  to  the 
disappearance  of  all  signs  of  unrest.  Then  again  those  glori- 
ous autumnal  days  of  bright  sunshine,  known  alone  to  such 
a  clime,  recurred  with  that  regular  periodicity  of  darkness 
succeeding  light — each  with  a  cloudless  sky,  and  tempered 
with  mildness  so  congenial  to  all  nature,  especially  her  human 
beings.  Surely  did  such  an  atmosphere  contribute  a  stimulat- 
ing breath  of  life,  that  which  created  in  one  an  ambition  for 
the  higher  ideals,  manly  virtues,  and  the  evolution  of  the  best 


206  UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA 

and  rarer  gifts — all  that  stood  for  improving  and  ennobling 
character.  It  was  a  little  but  a  busy  world,  apparently  all  to 
ourselves,  so  that  the  thoughtful,  reflective  and  strenuous 
student  found  no  cause  or  reason  for  homesickness.  The 
Rotunda  bell  pealed  in  accents  loud  each  changing  hour;  pro- 
fessors either  in  slow  meditative  mood  or  with  quick  elastic 
step  sought  posts  of  duty  in  advance  of  schedule  time ;  students 
like  martial  soldiers  were  ever  on  the  rapid  tread;  action  was 
everywhere  as  impelled  by  mechanical  power — making  time 
most  precious  and  not  to  exist  for  loitering  on  the  wayside. 
Towards  the  oneness  of  purpose  all  visible  signs  indicated 
work,  work,  work,  so  for  the  thoughtless  and  indolent  what 
an  unfortunate  spot!  A  few  were  there  poorly  prepared,  ap- 
parently without  energy,  definite  object  or  purpose — adrift 
upon  a  fomenting  sea  of  knowledge — but  how  fortunate  that 
such  were  rare,  and  that  one  session  usually  sufficed  to  see 
their  finish,  thus  preventing  serious  results  from  ingrafting 
pernicious  and  desultory  habits. 

During  the  early  part  of  the  session  when  meeting  students 
by  introduction  several  stereotyped  questions  invariably  were 
interchanged,  as:  Your  State,  studies  and  class,  and  if  an  old 
student  happened  in  the  party  he  usually  volunteered  some  real 
or  fancied  knowledge  of  your  tickets  selected,  as  well  as  char- 
acteristics of  the  professors  having  same  in  charge — the  less 
your  informant  really  knew  the  more  ominous  of  evil  he  por- 
trayed your  future.  Thus  the  "  green  ticket  "  (Latin,  Greek, 
Math.),  that  for  which  I  was  prepared  best,  evoked,  as  a  rule, 
a  derisive  smile  from  the  more  experienced,  and  in  fact  caused 
me,  after  a  few  lectures,  to  postpone  Greek  until  my  second 
year  in  favor  of  Natural  Philosophy.  It  was,  however,  some 
weeks  before  I  realized  the  significance  of  their  exclamations 
and  surprise — when  I  faced  the  thoroughness  with  which 
everything  was  taught  and  had  to  be  learned.  Each  language 
carried  not  only  an  assigned  tri-weekly  task  in  translation  with 
syntactic  interpretation — reasons  for  every  construction  and 
why  the  author  had  not  used  other  forms — but  a  knowledge  of 
its  history,  geography,  literature,  rhythm,  meters,  accents, 
etc.,  while  greater  importance  yet  was  centered  in  the  weekly 
exercise  (composition),  each  consisting  of  about  two  hundred 
English  words,  mostly  in  idiomatic  forms,  to  be  rendered  cor- 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  207 

rectly  into  the  respective  tongues.  In  this  one  phase  an  aver- 
age throughout  the  session  of  more  than  three  to  five  errors 
was  considered  so  ordinary  as  scarcely  to  justify  an  attempt  at 
graduation.  Then  again  private  reading,  parallel,  was  as- 
signed, consisting  of  several  hundred  pages  from  various 
styled  authors,  which  was  to  be  mastered  by  one's  self  in  the 
quietness  of  the  room,  since  from  it  a  portion  of  the  examina- 
tions were  taken,  the  remainder  coming  from  sources  unknown 
and  presumably  hitherto  unseen.  In  mathematics  beyond  the 
text  problems  quite  a  half  dozen  deductive  or  inferential  corol- 
laries, riders,  were  given  each  day  to  be  worked  out  by  one's 
self  privately,  and  these  mostly  constituted  the  recitations. 
Rarely,  indeed,  was  a  student  called  to  the  blackboard  and 
asked  to  demonstrate  any  problem  explained  fully  in  the  text, 
unless  getting  at  the  same  time  some  possibility  growing  there- 
from, and  on  examinations  he  never  encountered  the  direct 
theorems  as  set  in  the  books.  Some  of  these  riders  at  various 
steps  were  susceptible  of  several  solutions,  adding  not  only 
to  the  interest  but  demanding  often  many  thoughtful  efforts. 

I  had  only  been  at  the  University  three  weeks  when  several 
of  us  decided  to  take  our  usual  afternoon  walk — this  time 
westward  along  the  Staunton  pike — and  in  nearing  the  first 
crossing  with  the  Chesapeake  and  Ohio  Railroad  we  noticed 
a  man  tacking  to  a  large  tree  what  turned  out  to  be  a  campaign 
poster.  As  he  drove  away  rapidly  we  approached  slowly  and 
read  the  announcement  of  a  Grand  Republican  Mass  Meeting, 
to  be  held  in  the  Court  House,  Charlottesville,  Saturday, 
October  26th,  3  o'ck,  p.  M.,  at  which  the  Hon.  Henry  Wilson, 
the  Vice-Presidential  candidate,  was  to  be  the  attraction. 

Thus  far  I  had  seen  and  met  several  governors,  senators  and 
congressmen,  but  nothing  of  a  stronger  national  character,  and 
at  once  decided  to  shape  studies  to  attend  the  meeting.  Upon 
reaching  the  Court  House  shortly  before  the  hour  I  found  it 
so  filled  as  only  to  be  entered  by  patient  effort,  but,  gradually 
maneuvering  forward,  I  secured  standing  position  in  easy 
range  of  the  judge's  rostrum,  from  which  was  to  be  the  speak- 
ing. The  audience  was  largely  colored  (male  and  female),  very 
noisy,  and  enlivened  now  and  then  by  threatened  difficulties 
and  melees,  owing  to  the  wild  hurrahing  of  a  thoughtless  few 
in  the  background  having  political  sentiments  adverse  to  Ihe 


208  UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA 

rank  and  file  present.  The  characteristic  African  aroma 
strongly  asserted  itself,  which  together  with  the  personnel 
made  me  feel  decidedly  ill  at  ease,  but  recognizing  I  was  there 
for  a  commendable  purpose  resolved  that  the  discomforting 
elements  should  have  no  deterring  influence.  During  the  wait- 
ing stage  quite  a  sprinkling  of  students,  filled  to  overflowing 
with  youthful  buoyancy  and  antagonistic  political  enthusiasm, 
reinforced  the  already  congested  number,  apparently  delighting 
in  inflaming  the  assemblage  "  by  word  and  act,"  thu^  keeping 
it  in  a  continued  state  of  fever.  A  delay  tended  to  make  "  hope 
deferred,"  by  prolonging  the  commotion,  but  about  3.30  o'ck, 
word  was  passed  that  the  speakers  and  accompanying  digni- 
taries were  entering  the  building,  so  in  the  immediate  expect- 
ancy quietness  reigned,  only  in  a  few  moments  to  burst  forth 
in  wildness  at  their  veritable  presence.  Of  course  all  eyes 
seemed  centered  on  Mr.  Wilson,  who  for  quite  a  while  was 
kept  busy  smiling  and  bowing  in  recognition  of  the  frequent 
loud  calling  of  his  name.  When  the  initial  eclat  had  subsided, 
Mr.  Lawton  in  a  very  happy  mood,  and  with  his  characteristic 
deep  stentorian  voice,  affirmed  great  delight  at  the  honor  of 
presenting  Mr.  Wilson  to  his  Albemarle  constituents,  etc.  As 
Mr.  Wilson  arose  and  stood  there  he  appeared  six  feet  high  and 
to  weigh  two  hundred  pounds.  He  was  dressed  becomingly  in 
black — long  frock  coat,  widely  open  standing  collar,  polished 
silk  hat,  which  he  rested  on  the  desk  in  front;  face  of  the 
roundish  type,  florid  and  smoothly  shaven;  hair  blackish,  of 
more  than  ordinary  length  and  quantity  for  his  supposed  years ; 
nature  seemingly  kind,  paternal  and  magnetic — above  that 
represented  then  by  the  opposing  party  papers  and  speakers 
throughout  the  land.  He  spoke  an  hour,  saying  some  things 
distasteful  to  the  Democratic  portion  of  his  hearers,  who  had 
not  the  slightest  hesitation  in  showing  disapproval  by  hisses, 
groans,  and  other  disrespectful  audible  punctuations.  The 
student  element  especially  was  antagonistic,  going  so  far  as  to 
plan  giving  him  eggs — that  which  happily  was  averted  by  more 
sober  reflection— and  disorder  grew  fierce  whenever  the  col- 
ored contingent  showed  signs  of  resentment  by  trying  to  reach 
the  rear,  the  incendiary  spot  of  dissension.  I  was  puzzled  as 
to  the  outcome,  but,  being  well  up  towards  the  speaker  and 
tightly  wedged  in  a  sweltering  mass  of  humanity,  recognized 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  209 

there  to  be  no  escape,  let  come  what  might,  consequently  re- 
signed myself  to  the  dose.  Fortunately  for  all  present,  Mr. 
Wilson,  although  halted  and  interrupted  several  times  in  order 
to  restore  quietness,  brought  his  speech  to  a  close  without 
serious  trouble  or  bloodshed,  for  which  I  personally  was  very 
thankful.  As  he  took  his  seat  the  hall  became  partially  cleared, 
so  I  began  edging  myself  towards  the  door  encountering  several 
angered  student  acquaintances,  whom  I  counseled  to  be  charit- 
able for  the  opinions  of  others  and  to  tolerate  even  those  of 
our  opponents  on  occasions  like  this,  only  to  become  the 
target  of  many  uncomplimentary  expressions.  I  certainly 
was  glad  to  make  safe  retreat  to  the  University,  with  the  firm 
resolve,  religiously  kept,  of  never  attending  another  Republican 
mass  meeting  in  Charlottesville.  At  the  time  I  did  not  con- 
sider Mr.  Wilson  as  saying  much  deserving  criticism,  since 
he  began  by  stating  he  had  come  South  to  talk  over  calmly 
and  kindly  that  which  the  Administration  proposed  to  do  in 
case  of  re-election;  that  the  war  being  over  it  was  his  hope 
and  ambition  to  adjust  satisfactorily  all  unsettled  issues;  that 
we  must  look  towards  making  our  country's  future  brighter 
and  greater,  forgetting  as  much  as  possible  the  bitterness  of 
the  past.  He  extolled  General  Grant's  magnanimity  in  the  field, 
his  determination  to  see  the  Government  live  up  to  the  Appo- 
mattox  surrender,  verbal  and  written,  his  kindness  manifested 
towards  the  South  in  the  past  four  years,  which  he  faithfully 
promised  to  continue  if  re-elected  President,  etc.  As  I  now 
revert  to  that  occasion,  despite  the  youthful  curiosity  to  see 
and  hear  such  a  loyal  personage,  it  would  have  been  equally 
well  had  I  remained  at  my  post  of  duty  out  of  harm's  way, 
leaving  to  a  more  favorable  time,  which  afterwards  came, 
the  realization  of  individual  contact. 


CHAPTER   XI 

FIRST  VISIT  TO  MONTICELLO — MR.  JEFFERSON'S  HOME  AND 

GRAVE 

Monticello — visit  to  Lawrenceville  and  Princeton ;  Aaron  Burr's  grave  and 
tomb  contrasted  with  those  of  Mr.  Jefferson;  pilgrim  students  jour- 
neying on  foot  to  his  home  and  tomb;  description  and  dilapidation 
of  both;  now  happily  restored — the  one  by  Jefferson  M.  Levy,  the 
other  by  act  of  Congress;  his  tomb  inscription,  also  that  of  Dabney 
Carr;  home-letter  to  grandmother;  secret  fraternities;  literary  so- 
cieties— Jeff  and  Wash;  method  of  electing  officers,  etc. 

IN  early  September,  1902, 1  made  my  first  visit  to  Princeton, 
an  institution,  in  spite  of  Mr.  Jefferson's  known  prejudices — 
its  teachings  in  those  primitive  days  being-  elementary  and  de- 
nominational, characteristics  he  so  thoroughly  detested — I  al- 
ways held  in  high  esteem.  Each  and  every  journey  North 
and  to  the  upper  Jersey  coast  resorts  had  brought  me  past  the 
Junction,  revealing  in  the  distance  the  beautiful  outlines  of 
town  and  college  (university)  buildings,  which  served  to  create 
an  interest  as  well  as  a  determination  to  take  time  some  day 
for  a  tour  of  inspection.  Indeed  every  thoughtful  college- 
trained  man  possesses  abundant  milk  of  human  kindness  for 
all  educational  institutions,  and,  although  usually  a  graduate 
of  only  one,  finds  in  after  years  his  criminations  and  discrimi- 
nations against  the  many  becoming  less  and  less  acute.  While 
most  of  us  during  student  life  may  have  had  strong  preferences 
for  the  institution  we  attended — standing  for  it  ever  loyal — yet 
our  sense  of  justice  was  never  so  obtunded  as  not  to  accord 
to  some  others  equal  if  not  superior  advantages.  Certainly  a 
visit  to  Harvard,  Yale,  Princeton,  Cornell,  or  even  Vassar,  at 
that  early  age  would  have  been  hailed  by  every  collegian  with 
keen  delight.  Along  with  others  it  was  my  good  fortune  to 
be  on  several  occasions  a  delegate  to  my  Fraternity's  Grand 
Chapter  Annual  Convention  held  at  one  or  another  college, 
and  that  contact  not  only  increased  acquaintance  and  strength- 
ened friendship,  but  gave  an  insight  to  what  was  doing  else- 
where— provided  more  liberal  views  and  a  broader  conception 

310 


C   JP 

4i  2 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  211 

of  the  true  educational  life.  Most  persons  enjoy  travel  and  a 
visit  to  the  unseen,  likewise  nearly  all  believers  in  learning  have 
a  natural  curiosity,  nay  inspiration — beginning  early  and  not 
ceasing  with  years — to  see  the  leading  educational  centers  of 
our  land.  From  Princeton  some  relatives  and  many  friends 
had  graduated,  which  served  as  a  stimulus  for  realizing  an  un- 
fading hope,  and  now  a  nephew,  for  whom  I  had  more  than 
ordinary  ambition,  was  nearing  the  college  period — that  which 
I  preferred  should  be  taken  in  Virginia,  but  knew  would  be 
otherwise,  as  his  family  entertained  strong  Federalistic  senti- 
ments. He  was  then  at  a  preparatory  school — far  from  best — 
and  we  had  talked  over  time  and  again  Lawrenceville,  think- 
ing the  course  there  ideal,  and  that  the  stay  of  several  years 
in  such  close  proximity  to  Princeton  might  incline  towards 
finally  accepting  her  advantages.  Enjoying  mutual  friends  in 
Trenton  we  happened  one  day  in  their  presence  to  mention 
these  schools  and  a  desire  to  visit  them,  when  one  of  the  gen- 
tlemen quickly  affirmed  a  willingness  to  accompany  us  at  our 
convenience.  It  was  a  golden  opportunity  readily  and  gladly 
accepted — as  the  proffered  escort  was  born  and  reared  in  that 
city,  had  graduated  from  Princeton,  following  the  good  exam- 
ple of  his  elder  brothers,  and  carried  a  social  entree  that  was 
most  delightful.  His  father  was  a  man  of  large  affairs — 
prominent  in  the  counsels  of  State — but  it  was  rather  early 
to  prejudge  the  son's  career.  He  met  myself  and  nephew 
on  the  appointed  morning  at  the  Trenton  depot  (Pennsylvania 
Railroad),  where  we  took  the  trolley  to  the  center  of  the  city 
and  there  transferred  to  a  larger  and  more  commodious  elec- 
tric car  running  the  suburban  route  desired.  After  a  half  hour's 
run  over  a  well-equipped  road  through  six  miles  of  slightly 
rolling  agricultural  land  we  reached,  laying  to  our  right,  the 
campus  of  the  Lawrenceville  School  with  its  inviting  open  en- 
trance. Just  within  the  grounds  to  the  right  of  the  first  road 
stood  a  well-proportioned  and  well-planned  brick  cottage, 
partly  overvined  and  faced  with  a  small  porch  upon  which 
stood  a  gentleman  of  middle  years,  with  seeming  intelligence 
and  affability.  Only  a  few  steps  and  we  faced  him,  when  I 
introduced  ourselves  and  asked  the  privilege  of  inspecting  the 
institution.  He  greeted  us  cordially,  stated  he  was  the  head- 
master, Dr.  McPherson,  and  would  be  only  too  glad  to  go 


212  UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA 

with  us  through  the  grounds  and  such  buildings  as  might  in- 
terest the  stranger.  I  found  him  to  be  a  Scotchman  by  birth, 
well-informed,  of  strong  personality  and  executive  ability — a 
strict  disciplinarian,  positive  yet  kind,  evidently  an  ideal  char- 
acter to  fashion  manly  boys.  I  never  was  impressed  more 
favorably  with  any  preparatory  school,  as  its  magnitude  and 
equipment  left  little  to  be  desired — far  excelling  in  my  judg- 
ment many  of  our  American  Colleges.  The  hour  and  a  half 
together  was  spent  most  delightfully,  as  Dr.  McPherson  not 
only  gave  lucid  descriptions  of  the  buildings — Foundation 
House,  Memorial  Hall,  Memorial  Chapel,  Upper  House,  Gym- 
nasium, etc. — and  methods  of  teaching  used,  but  was  friendly 
enough  to  discuss  freely  several  educational  topics  in  accord- 
ance with  his  decidedly  pronounced  opinions.  I  there  saw 
what  I  had  never  before—dozens  of  mahogany  desks  in  ser- 
vice six  or  eight  years  without  the  slightest  evidence  of  knife 
or  other  vandalic  marks — only  an  occasional  ink  stain  pre- 
venting their  acceptance  as  absolutely  new.  There  seemed 
little  else  to  Lawrenceville  beyond  the  school,  which,  with 
tennis  courts,  buildings,  athletic  grounds,  golf  links,  baseball 
and  football  fields,  extended  a  full  half  mile  on  the  right  of 
the  one  (Main)  street,  whose  center  was  the  bed  of  our 
electric  road,  while  on  the  left  the  Burser's  office,  post-office, 
a  few  stores  and  many  comfortable  residences  with  attractive 
grounds,  shrubbery  and  flowers  occupied  an  equal  distance. 
Certainly  it  gave  the  one  impression — simply  an  institutional 
town  without  commercialism  and  distracting  forces,  perfect 
qualities  for  the  student. 

Resuming  our  trolley  ride,  another  six  miles  through  fields 
of  growing  corn  and  grazing  herds,  traversed  now  and  then 
by  large,  sluggish  streams,  brought  us  to  our  destination, 
Princeton — very  near  the  railroad  station.  To  our  com- 
panion I  referred  several  times  en  route  to  Aaron  Burr,  ex- 
pressing a  great  desire  to  see  his  grave,  and  always  received 
the  courteous  reply :  "  I  shall  most  assuredly  show  you  that." 
After  passing  a  couple  of  hours  in  going  through  various 
buildings  and  haunting  grounds,  and  beginning  to  realize 
fatigue,  hunger  and  the  approaching  end  of  sight-seeing,  I 
reminded  him  again  of  Burr's  grave,  only  to  bring  forth  the 
reply :  "  That  is  now  very  near."  We  were  then  about  finishing 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  213 

the  Dynamo,  Engineering  and  Chemical  buildings,  and  im- 
mediately proceeded  to  the  extreme  east  of  the  campus,  along 
Washington  Street  southward  to  the  Infirmary  and  that 
beautiful  boulevard,  Prospect  Avenue,  whose  level  sides  were 
graced  with  students'  club-houses  and  professors'  homes — all 
in  well-arranged  floral  plots  and  verdant  grounds.  Just  be- 
fore reaching  this  latter  street  we  came  to  a  standstill  under 
a  good-sized  tree,  with  extensive  foliage  canopying  a  solitary 
neglected  grave,  modestly  enclosed  by  small  cedars  or  arbor 
vitse,  and  marked  by  ordinary  much-discolored  and  mutilated 
white  marble  slabs,  the  foot  one  being  almost  invisible. 
The  head  was  westward  and  carried  by  far  the  larger  vertical 
slab — about  three  feet  six  inches  high,  two  feet  wide  and  two 
inches  thick — bearing  upon  its  eastern  face  this  epitaph:  "  The 
remains  of  Catherine  Bullock,  daughter  of  Joseph  and  Esther 
Bullock,  of  Philadelphia,  who,  after  a  tedious  illness  which 
she  suffered  with  exemplary  resignation,  died  June  7,  1794, 
aged  22  years."  As  we  approached  the  spot  our  companion 
with  confidence  and  emphasis  ejaculated:  "  This  is  the  grave 
of  Burr."  My  great  surprise  can  well  be  imagined  upon  find- 
ing it  the  resting  place  of  another — that  in  which  our  friend 
shared  to  the  extent  of  positive  embarrassment.  After  a 
ruminative  period  we  concluded  that  Burr  must  lay  in  the 
town  cemetery,  often  called  "  America's  Westminster,"  where 
a  later  hour  was  arranged  to  be  spent,  and  where  on  June  26th 
(1908)  was  laid  at  rest  our  much  revered  ex-President, 
Grover  Cleveland.  We  next  visited  his  club-house  (Colonial) 
and  the  Infirmary,  then  accepted  an  hour  for  dinner  (Nassau 
Inn — the  Princeton  Inn  being  closed  and  under  repairs — ), 
after  which  a  team  conveyed  us  to  the  more  remote  points — 
Bayard  Lane  homes  (Mr.  Cleveland's,  Dr.  Van  Dyke's,  etc.), 
Theological  Seminary,  Moses  Taylor  Pyne's,  Athletic  grounds, 
Cemetery,  etc.  To  this  latter  entrance  was  gained  by  a  small 
gate  on  Witherspoon  Street,  and  once  within  no  difficulty 
was  experienced  in  finding  along  the  south  boundary  graves  of 
many  distinguished  dead — those  who  had  held  with  signal 
ability  most  important  positions  in  the  College,  Seminary, 
town,  county  and  State.  Near  the  corner  of  Wiggins  Street 
was  one  of  the  oldest  treasures — the  discolored  and  almost 
illegible  tomb  of  Dr.  Thomas  Wiggins — "  many  years  a  dis- 


214  UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA 

tinguished  and  faithful  physician  in  the  town."  Close  by 
and  eastward  was  the  Stockton  lot  containing  graves  of 
Commodore  Richard  Stockton  and  members  of  that  noted 
family.  But  the  one  adjoining — College  lot — was  of  most 
interest,  as  there  rested  so  many  of  her  illustrious  presi- 
dents and  their  intimate  associates.  The  west  boundary  was 
marked  by  a  row  of  fourteen  graves,  each  two  or  three  feet 
apart  and  covered  almost  uniformly  with  full  length  horizontal 
white  marble  slabs  upon  marble  coping,  or  brick  covered 
with  cement,  about  two  feet  high.  The  most  northward 
was  that  of  the  elder  Aaron  Burr,  followed  by  those 
of  Jonathan  Edwards,  Samuelis  Davies,  Samuelis  Finley, 
Joannis  Witherspoon,  Samuelis  Stanhope  Smith,  Walter 
Minto,  Ashbel  Green,  Mary — wife  of  James  Carnahan, 
Jacobi  Carnahan,  Joannis  Maclean,  Johannis  Maclean,  M.  D., 
Mrs  Phebe  Maclean,  William  Bainbridge  Maclean.  Many  of 
the  epitaphs  were  entirely  Latin,  some  so  lengthy  as  to  fill 
completely  the  slab,  but  those  of  Aaron  Burr  and  Jonathan 
Edwards  seemed  most  difficult  to  decipher  owing  to  greater 
discoloration  and  mutilation.  At  the  foot  of  these  two  graves, 
nearly  centering  the  continuous  four-foot  inter-space,  but 
slightly  nearer  Jonathan  Edwards,  stood  the  vertical  tombstone 
of  Aaron  Burr's  son,  Aaron — once  our  vice-president — con- 
sisting of  a  white  marble  slab  four  feet  high,  twenty-one  inches 
wide,  and  eight  inches  thick,  with  edges  channeled,  set  into  a 
slightly  broader  block  of  similar  marble — two  feet  wide,  ten 
inches  thick  and  high — which  in  turn  rested  upon  a  granite 
slab  three  feet  long,  twenty-two  inches  deep  and  eight  inches 
high.  Near  the  top  the  eastward  face  bore  this  inscription: 
"  Aaron  Burr,  Born  Feb.  6,  1756.  Died  Sept  14,  1836.  A 
Colonel  in  the  Army  of  the  Revolution.  Vice-President  of 
the  United  States,  from  1801  to  1805."  It  is  said  that  some 
lady  admirer  erected  this  monument  incognito  two  years  after 
his  death,  it  being  conveyed  to  the  cemetery  and  mounted  in 
the  stillness  of  night  without  even  the  knowledge  of  residents 
or  town  authorities.  Just  opposite  a  few  feet — northeast 
corner  of  the  lot — stood  by  far  the  most  imposing  tomb — 
granite  monument — bearing  upon  its  westward  face  the  in- 
scription: "James  McCosh,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  D.  S.  Born 
Ayrshire,'  Scotland,  April  i,  1811.  Died  Princeton,  New  Jer- 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  215 

sey,  Nov.  16,  1894.  Therefore  are  they  before  the  throne  of 
God,  and  serve  him  day  and  night  in  his  temples."  In  strolling 
over  towards  the  entrance  driveway  we  noticed  to  our  left 
what  was  possibly  the  graveyard's  most  imposing  monument, 
having  on  its  summit  a  life  size  statue  in  frock-coat  and  skull- 
cap, and  on  one  face  the  inscription:  "Paul  Tulane,  1801- 
1887.  Founder  of  the  Tulane  University  of  New  Orleans." 
Near  here  we  encountered  several  colored  men  busily  improv- 
ing the  appearance  of  various  lots,  and  of  one  I  inquired  the 
direction  of  Professor  Guyot's  tomb,  only  to  provoke  con- 
siderable hesitation,  but  finally  the  exclamatory  reply :  "  Oh, 
yes,  it  is  over  yonder  " — pointing  somewhat  northward.  He 
soon  desired  to  know  why  I  asked  for  that  gentleman,  as  in 
his  memory  I  was  the  first  so  to  do.  I  could  not  suppress 
my  regret  that  the  man  and  name,  Arnold  Guyot,  for  thirty 
years  a  Princeton  professor,  and  a  world-renowned  naturalist, 
ranking  possibly  next  to  Agassiz  in  their  day,  should  have 
left  in  this  land  of  adoption  such  a  fading  memory. 

I  have  related  this  experience  to  show  that  it  is  possible  for 
an  intelligent  young  man  to  spend  four  years  at  Princeton,  to 
graduate,  to  pass  by  the  supposed  grave  of  a  great  man  several 
times  daily  without  the  interest  or  curiosity  to  verify  an  im- 
pression, to  keep  all  that  time  without  the  cemetery  walls,  and 
to  know  not  where  rest,  at  least,  some  of  her  noted  dead.  And 
here  I  wish  to  draw  a  happy  contrast — that  in  contact  with  my 
fellow  students  I  never  encountered  one  who  admitted  having 
been  drawn  to  the  University  of  Virginia  alone  by  its  reputa- 
tion as  a  teaching  institution,  knowing  nothing  previously  of 
Mr.  Jefferson's  identity  with  it.  Not  only  this,  but  they 
realized  with  considerable  pride,  that  on  the  crest  of  the  near- 
by towering  peak  to  the  east,  Monticello,  he  lived,  died  and 
rested.  Nearly  every  school  history  of  that  day  gave,  if  not  an 
illustration,  some  reference  to  Monticello,  the  home  of  Jeffer- 
son, while  the  two  names  at  Charlottesville  and  the  University 
were  linked  so  inseparably  that  we  students  somehow  imbibed 
very  early  the  Jeffersonian  spirit — that  which  still  pervaded 
thoroughly  the  atmosphere,  causing  us  to  consider  their  palmy 
days  not  remote  and  of  the  greatest  historic  interest. 

At  Princeton  it  seemed  very  different  with  Mr.  Burr  and 
his  resting  place — a  man  certainly  to  whom  the  institution 


216  UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA 

and  students  owed  indirectly  not  a  little — for  his  father,  Aaron 
Burr  the  elder,  had  been  the  College's  second  president  and 
had  rescued  it  from  its  predecessor,  Jonathan  Dickinson,  just 
in  time  to  save  it  from  possible  extinction  and  to  assure  it 
thereafter  a  substantial  existence — that  which  it  had  never 
enjoyed.  Therefore,  if  not  its  founder  he  was  its  life  saving 
spirit,  and,  upon  meeting  an  untimely  death,  was  succeeded 
by  his  renowned  father-in-law,  the  saintly  Jonathan  Edwards, 
who  aided  in  making  the  family  connection  and  dependence 
all  the  stronger.  Beyond  that  the  younger  Aaron  Burr  was  a 
graduate  of  the  College  and  became  distinguished  in  politics 
— strangely  enough  a  contemporaneous  party  rival  of  Mr. 
Jefferson — the  two  running  together,  1800,  on  the  National 
ticket  for  President  and  Vice-President,  the  one  securing  sim- 
ply the  larger  electoral  vote  to  occupy  the  higher  office.  It 
is  true  then  came  the  tie  vote  contest  occasioning  the  House 
of  Representatives  to  make  a  decision,  by  only  one  plurality 
in  favor  of  Mr.  Jefferson  being  President  and  Mr.  Burr  the 
Vice-President,  a  result  in  exact  conformity  with  the  peoples' 
wishes;  that  Mr.  Burr  was  accused  at  that  time  of  chicanery 
and  trickery  to  thwart  public  will  in  his  behalf,  and  that  later 
he  had  headed  a  conspiracy  against  his  country,  but  the  fact 
remained — that  at  one  time  they  both  had  about  an  equal 
hold  upon  the  confidence  of  their  countrymen.  Although  it 
is  easy  to  draw  between  these  two  noted  characters  a  kind  of 
parallelism  in  some  respects,  yet  to-day  all  recognize  them  to 
have  been  widely  different — one  living  nobly  and  solely  for 
others,  the  other,  Aaron  Burr  the  scoundrel  as  Fiske  puts  it, 
intriguingly  and  strictly  for  self. 

No  one,  therefore,  need  be  surprised  that  even  at  Prince- 
ton the  name  and  deeds  of  Mr.  Burr  count  for  little,  while  in 
Virginia  those  of  Mr.  Jefferson  still  remain  near  the  hearts 
of  his  people,  old  and  young — worshiped  by  many,  praised  by 
all,  condemned  by  none — and  that  one  of  the  earliest  ambi- 
tions of  first  year  students  at  the  University  was  to  make 
during  the  pleasant  autumn  weather  a  journey  to  his  home 
and  tomb.  The  distance  by  road  was  considered  four  miles, 
but  a  little  less  by  foot  when  passing  in  a  straight  line  over 
fields,  fences  and  ravines.  As  a  rule  youth  has  no  aversion 
to  long  and  rugged  walks — those  recognized  advantageous  to 
health  and  development.  Indeed,  the  more  difficult  the  pas- 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  217 

sage  the  more  tempting  the  undertaking,  space  figuring  little, 
as  each  boasts  himself  capable  of  walking  the  entire  day  with- 
out serious  inconvenience  from  fatigue.  Inasmuch  as  every 
week-day  carried  its  full  quota  of  work,  the  Sabbath  alone 
was  left  for  such  a  required  absence  and  diversion,  so  that 
during  the  week  small  parties  arranged  for  these  Sunday 
trips,  weather  permitting — a  clear,  bright  day  being  preferred, 
as  only  then  we  chanced  to  see  the  smoke  of  Richmond,  nearly 
a  hundred  miles  away,  and  the  dim  outline  of  the  slightly 
nearer  "  Peaks  of  Otter,"  the  highest  point  of  the  Blue  Ridge 
in  Virginia  (southwest).  Several  of  us  made  plans  for  the 
fourth  Sunday  in  October  (2/th),  but  the  early  morning  rain 
rendered  roads  muddy  and  walking  heavy,  so  we  postponed 
the  trip  a  week  later,  November  3rd,  which  proved  all  that 
could  be  desired.  I  take  from  my  diary  notes  of  that  date, 
important  facts  which  I  have  thought  wise  to  revise  and  am- 
plify: Burrus  and  I  started  for  Monticello  at  11.30  o'ck. ; 
stopped  at  Ambroselli's  for  oysters  and  waffles,  knowing  we 
would  miss  regular  dinner;  left  restaurant  an  hour  later  and 
journeyed  the  usual  route  to  Charlottesville,  thence  out  by  the 
depot,  the  only  one  in  those  days  over  the  railroad  tracks  by 
the  private  road,  on  the  crest,  through  Mr.  Ficklin's  two  farms, 
thence  up  hill  and  down  dale  to  intersect  the  regular  winding 
road  around  the  base  and  in  the  notch  between  the  higher  Car- 
ter's Mountain  on  the  south  and  Monticello,  reaching  the  lat- 
ter's  summit  by  a  tortuous  road  over  its  southwestern  slope. 
Our  pace  was  rather  rapid  until  near  ing  the  mountain's  base 
we  encountered  an  unexpected  obstacle — a  good-sized  stream 
without  bridge  or  foot-log.  This  vehicles  easily  forded,  but 
none  of  these  was  in  sight,  nor  likely  to  be  on  the  holy  day — 
a  time  not  justifying  much  passing  to  and  from  the  town. 
While  deliberating  our  troubles  two  students  joined  us  having 
in  common  the  same  destination,  so  we  four  proceeded  up 
the  stream  until  a  point  was  reached  with  many  bed-rocks  pro- 
truding above  the  running  water  and  sufficiently  close  to- 
gether to  be  reached  by  forced  effort  in  jumping.  This  en- 
abled our  safe  passage  and  the  entrance  shortly  thereafter 
upon  the  ascent  of  the  mountain  side  covered  densely  with  a 
growth  of  small  and  larger  trees.  Hill  climbing  at  best  re- 
quires the  expenditure  of  much  energy — means  work — but  to 
pull  one's  self  up  that  narrow,  poorly  made  and  kept  rocky, 


218  UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA 

precipitous  road,  taking  cross-cuts  whenever  possible,  sug- 
gested early  the  nature  of  our  impending  task  and  the  wish 
that  the  summit  be  less  remote.  After  tugging  quite  an  hour 
we  came  upon  the  graveyard,  laying  near  to  and  on  the  right 
(east)  of  the  road,  an  area  of  more  than  a  hundred  feet 
square  enclosed  by  a  brick  wall  of  at  least  eight  feet  high.  An 
iron  gate  slightly  higher  than  the  wall  and  about  ten  feet  wide, 
constructed  of  three  horizontal  and  many  vertical  rods  four 
inches  apart,  guarded  the  entrance  on  the  roadside  (north- 
west), which  was  locked  securely.  We  stood  a  while  gazing 
through  these  wide  meshes,  and  except  in  the  immediate  front 
the  view  was  that  of  a  neglected  wilderness — thoroughly 
covered  with  an  undergrowth  of  grass,  small  and  large  bushes 
and  a  few  stately  trees.  In  the  foreground  several  feet  from 
the  gate  and  about  its  median  line  stood  a  modest  monument, 
obelisk,  eight  feet  high,  with  square  base  three  feet  broad  and 
two  feet  high,  surmounted  by  a  tapering  rectangular  shaft 
with  base  two  feet  and  apex  ten  to  twelve  inches,  the  latter 
beveled  on  all  four  sides  to  form  an  obtuse  point.  To  our 
left  could  easily  be  seen  several  graves  covered  with  full-sized 
horizontal  marble  and  slate  slabs,  and  in  the  rear  wall  one  or 
two  disintegrated  crumbling  spots,  by  which  we  concluded  an 
entrance  might  be  effected  without  risk  or  injury — a  surmise 
well-founded  as  in  a  few  minutes  we  faced  the  lettered  side 
(east)  of  the  monument.  On  the  granite  base  could  partly  be 
made  out  in  three  lines: 

Born  April  2d. 

1743,  O.  S. 
Died  July  4th,  1826. 

In  the  main  shaft  above  was  an  indentation,  into  which  was 
fastened  originally  a  white  marble  plate  or  slab  bearing  the 
following  inscription — that  which  Mr.  Jefferson  during  life 
purposely  wrote  and  placed  in  a  certain  private  drawer  along 
with  various  souvenirs,  including  an  ink  sketch  of  the  monu- 
ment he  desired: 

Here  was  buried 
THOMAS  JEFFERSON, 

Author  of  the  Declaration  of  American  Independence, 

Of  the  Statute  of  Virginia  for  Religious  Freedom, 

And  Father  of  the  University  of  Virginia. 

There  was  not  a  vestige  left  of  this  inlaid  slab,  but  it  must 
have  conformed  in  outline  to  the  full  tapering  face  of  the  shaft, 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  219 

nearly  two  feet  wide,  and  have  been  that  high,  as  the  visible 
recession  extended  from  within  three  inches  of  the  base  to 
the  shaft's  median  line.  Of  course  the  marble  slab,  soft  com- 
pared with  the  rest  of  the  monument,  had  been  broken  and 
chipped  off  by  the  relic  hunters,  whose  ruthless  hands  ceased 
not  even  there,  but  had  made  disfiguring  inroads  upon  all 
four  of  the  square  corners,  these  being  irregularly  broken  their 
entire  length.  Seeing  what  others  had  done — set  a  vulgar 
example — encouraged  me  to  possess  a  similar  memento  of  my 
visit,  so  with  various  pieces  of  rocks  lying  around  I  attempted 
to  break  off  small  fragments,  but  in  vain  as  the  harder  granite 
sternly  resisted  the  violence  applied.  I  did,  however,  find 
within  twenty  feet  of  the  grave  a  straight  growing  scion, 
which  I  cut,  had  ferruled  and  capped,  to  serve  me  many  years 
as  a  curio  walking  stick.  Although  Mr.  Jefferson  lay  buried 
between  his  wife  and  daughter,  Mary,  with  his  eldest  daughter, 
Martha,  across  the  head,  all  having  had  appropriate  marble 
slabs,  yet  only  a  few  fragments  of  Martha's,  the  longest  sur- 
vivor, remained  to  tell  the  story.  To  the  left  of  the  gate  a 
number  of  graves  of  still  older  dates  had  been  more  fortunate, 
as  their  slate  and  discolored  marble  slabs  had  been  unmolested 
— belonging  to  family  members  less  known  and  revered  by 
the  general  public.  Slightly  to  the  right  and  near  the  center 
of  the  enclosure  stood  that  stately  oak,  whose  branching  foli- 
age covered  the  remains  of  Dabney  Carr,  and  extended  to 
the  edge  of  the  Jefferson  group.  Under  this  canopy  of  nature, 
removed  from  all  earthly  disturbances,  these  two  youthful 
spirits,  so  congenial  in  feelings,  tastes,  principles  and  pursuits, 
sat  daily  upon  a  rustic  seat  of  their  own  construction  studying 
and  discussing  their  Bracton,  Coke  and  Matthew  Bacon,  crit- 
ical of  the  past,  dissatisfied  with  the  present  and  apprehensive 
of  the  future.  In  death  they  rested  together — the  slab  of  Carr 
covering  their  favorite  spot  and  bearing  this  inscription : 

Here  lie  the  remains  of 
DABNEY   CARR, 

Son  of  John  and  Jane  Carr,  of  Louisa  County,  Who  was  born , 

1744,  Intermarried  with  Martha  Jefferson,  daughter  of  Peter 
and  Jane  Jefferson,  1765;  And  died  at  Charlottesville,  May 

16,  1773,  Leaving  six  small  children. 

To  his  Virtue,  Good  Sense,  Learning,  and  Friendship  this  stone 

is  dedicated  by  Thomas  Jefferson,  who,  of  all  men  living, 

loved  him  most. 


220  UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA 

After  carefully  inspecting  everything  considered  of  interest 
we  rescaled  the  rear  wall  and  continued  our  steps  to  the 
slightly  more  elevated  summit,  not  more  than  a  fourth  of  a 
mile  distant,  which  we  found  practically  level  for  a  space  of 
six  hundred  feet  north  and  south  by  three  hundred  east  and 
west,  to  serve  as  a  lawn,  the  sides  of  the  mountain  gradually 
sloping  therefrom.  Stately  trees  stood  here  and  there,  and 
near  the  center  the  neglected  mansion,  facing  north — more 
accurately  northeast — to  whose  approach  a  straight  indented 
but  thoroughly  overgrown  walk  led  from  the  lawn's  edge. 
It  seemed  closed  and  unoccupied,  but  upon  walking  around  to 
various  points  of  advantage,  talking  considerably,  and  show- 
ing signs  of  curiosity,  an  elderly  white  man  made  his  ap- 
pearance. He  was  the  keeper  living  on  the  premises  (several 
south  rooms),  having  the  privilege  of  certain  tillage  and  the 
revenue  from  showing  visitors  through  the  house — that  for 
us  being  the  modest  sum  of  fifteen  cents  each.  In  this  capacity 
he  had  acted  for  years,  knew  considerable  Jeffersonian  history, 
and  delighted  to  communicate  it.  The  mountain  has  a  height 
of  about  six  hundred  feet  and  contains  two  hundred  and 
twenty- three  acres,  only  one-half  being  subject  to  cultivation. 
The  building,  externally  Doric,  internally  Ionic  architecture, 
is  constructed  of  English  bricks,  much  discolored,  apparently 
a  single  story  with  balustrade  around  the  almost  flat  roof 
cornice,  and  consists  of  one  large  octagonal  pavilion  sur- 
mounted by  a  circular  dome,  having  wings  north  and  south, 
and  projecting  porticoes  east  and  west — each  cross-section  be- 
ing about  one  hundred  feet.  The  north  and  south  wings  each 
terminate  in  a  piazza  with  same  floor  elevation  as  the  house, 
three  feet,  supported  by  brick  arches,  and  opening  on  to  a 
terrace,  one-third  above  and  two-thirds  under  ground — whose 
floors  are  of  the  same  level  as  the  cellar  with  which  they  com- 
municate, and  whose  nearly  flat  roofs  are  on  a  line  with  the 
first  floor,  thus  enabling  their  use  for  promenading  in  evenings 
and  damp  weather.  These  terraces  extend  to  the  brow  of 
the  mountain  on  either  side,  having  their  two  projecting  ends 
terminating  in  additional  storied  turrets  or  pavilions,  twenty 
feet  square,  both  having  been  used  by  Mr.  Jefferson  as  offices 
— the  south  one  in  winter,  the  north  one  in  summer — where 
he  was  accustomed  to  sit  bareheaded  until  bedtime  with 


University — Lewis  Brooks  Museum 
(Erected  1875-77) 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  221 

friends,  unannoyed  by  dew  and  insects.  The  north  one  was 
occupied  many  years  as  an  office  by  his  grandson,  Thomas 
Jefferson  Randolph,  and  it  was  through  one  of  these,  possibly 
the  southern,  that  Mr.  Jefferson,  when  Governor,  made  es- 
cape, thus  evading  capture  by  the  British  under  Tarleton. 
The  mansion  contains  thirty-six  rooms,  small  and  large,  and 
has  two  almost  similar  entrances — east  and  west — the  former 
considered  front,  having  a  portico  receding  six  feet  within 
the  wall,  thereby  giving  it  a  depth  of  twenty-five  and  a  width 
of  thirty  feet,  covered  by  an  angled  roof  supported  by  four 
stout  stone  pillars  resting  on  the  floor,  three  feet  above  ground, 
and  reached  by  five  or  six  low  stone  steps  extending  its  entire 
width.  It  was  through  this  our  guide  admitted  us,  entering 
first  a  lofty  nearly  square  hall  or  saloon  having  balcony  to 
the  right,  connecting  the  upper  story  and  originally  intended 
an  avenue  of  reaching  the  first  floor  by  ornamental  stairways 
— those  that  never  were  erected.  On  one  side  is  an  old  bust 
of  Mr.  Jefferson  and  opposite  stands  one  of  Hamilton,  both 
mounted  on  large  pedestals ;  over  the  front  door  built  into  the 
wall  is  a  good-sized  clock,  which  had  to  be  wound  standing 
upon  a  ladder — this  latter  being  in  normal  position  and  claimed 
to  have  been  made  by  Mr.  Jefferson  himself;  the  hands  stand 
at  7.34  o'ck.  From  this  hall  we  passed  through  folding 
glass  doors  into  an  octagonal  parlor  or  drawing-room,  twenty- 
six  by  twenty-three  feet,  opening  out  upon  the  rear  or  west 
portico,  so  that  these  two  large  rooms  comprise  the  entire 
depth  of  the  house.  The  parlor  is  adorned  with  several 
pictures,  and  French  plate  mirrors  extending  from  ceiling  to 
floor,  the  latter  being  tessellated  or  parqueted  in  ten  inch 
squares  of  wild  cherry  (mahogany  color)  with  four  inch 
borders  of  light-colored  beech,  finished  with  a  glossy  surface. 
From  these  two  large  halls  or  rooms  we  entered  the  other 
living  apartments — from  the  east  hall  by  a  passage  on  the 
right  to  two  bedrooms  and  the  piazza,  by  one  on  the  left 
(south)  to  Mrs.  Jefferson's  sitting-room,  library  and  piazza; 
from  the  west  hall  (parlor)  we  entered  on  the  right  (north) 
a  good-sized  dining-room  furnished  with  a  handsome  crystal 
chandelier  and  busts  of  Washington,  Lafayette  and  Voltaire, 
while  just  beyond  (northward)  is  an  octagonal  tea-room, 
used  alone  by  Mr.  Jefferson,  opening  out  upon  the  north 


222  UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA 

piazza ;  from  the  parlor  on  the  left  (south)  was  Mr.  Jefferson's 
room,  which  entered,  as  did  the  adjoining  passage,  into  the 
library — a  room  extending  the  full  depth  of  the  building  and 
opening  by  glass  windows  and  doors  upon  the  piazza,  enclosed 
with  glass  for  a  conservatory.  The  upper  story,  reached  by 
a  very  narrow,  dark,  winding  stairs  admitting  the  passage 
of  only  one  person  at  a  time,  is  divided  into  a  number  of 
small  irregular  shaped,  poorly  lighted  and  ventilated  rooms, 
several  having  alcoves  with  slats  fastened  into  them  for  beds, 
like  unto  the  bed-chambers  on  the  lower  floor  The  dome 
room  is  octagonal,  large  and  commodious,  without  any  par- 
titions, being  used  in  its  palmy  day  as  the  "  ladies'  drawing- 
room,"  but  now  the  repository  of  one  solitary  article  of  more 
than  passing  interest — the  sulky  or  gig  body  in  which  Mr. 
Jefferson  made  frequent  trips  to  Richmond,  Washington, 
Philadelphia,  etc.  In  one  of  the  upper  bedrooms  a  member 
of  the  family  died,  when  it  was  found  necessary  to  lower  the 
body  through  one  of  the  front  circular  windows,  the  stairs 
being  too  contracted  for  that  purpose.  Upon  approaching  by 
the  front  entrance  the  octagon  with  its  circular  dome  is 
scarcely  visible,  as  that  occupies  the  rear  half  of  the  building, 
but  looms  into  conspicuous  prominence  and  effect  when  one 
approaches  from  the  graveyard  or  rear. 

Monticello  of  that  day  was  a  total  wreck,  as  many  years 
had  passed  without  the  slightest  effort  at  repairs;  the  shin- 
gles of  the  roof  were  so  decayed  as  not  only  to  admit  rain  and 
snow  but  the  rays  of  sunlight;  many  window  panes,  slats  and 
shutters  were  broken  or  missing;  the  paint  of  former  years 
was  scarcely  visible,  and  everything,  once  bright  and  beautiful, 
was  stained  and  effaced.  The  old  English  bricks,  as  durable 
as  time,  were  darkened  by  exposure,  while  the  covered  ways 
(terraces)  were  coated  with  mould  and  green  deposit,  the  re- 
sult of  dampness,  darkness  and  neglect.  The  front  was  carved, 
penciled  and  disfigured  with  the  names  and  remarks  of  many 
who  could  not  omit  registering  the  delightful  occasion  of 
their  visitation. 

That  day's  experience  at  Monticello  was  attended  with  no 
little  sadness,  indeed,  depression,  for  everything  observed 
belonged  to  a  passed  generation,  had  apparently  seen  its  day 
of  usefulness  and  was  on  the  rapid  road  to  extinction.  No 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  223 

one,  seemingly,  was  left  with  sufficient  means,  interest  or 
patriotism  to  stay  the  inroad  of  decay,  and  the  entire  moun- 
tain top  stood  in  our  minds  hopelessly  doomed.  One  could 
scarcely  realize  the  historic  side  of  the  place,  especially  the 
facts:  that  there  possibly  above  all  other  private  spots  in 
America  had  been  assembled  most  love  of  liberty,  virtue,  wis- 
dom and  learning;  that  it  had  been  the  home  of  Mr.  Jefferson 
for  sixty  years,  forty  of  which,  having  been  spent  in  higher 
positions  of  public  trust,  had  occasioned  a  certain  degree  of 
entertaining  unsurpassed  in  its  day;  that  Madison,  Monroe, 
Wirt,  Henry,  Randolph  and  others  had  used  so  frequently  its 
hospitality  as  their  own,  while  Webster,  Paine,  Priestley,  Tick- 
nor,  Wayland,  Lafayette  and  hundreds  of  more  or  less  emi- 
nence had  wandered  around  those  grounds  as  were  we  that 
beautiful  afternoon  of  perfect  sunshine.  Although  this  was 
my  maiden  trip  to  the  "  bleak  house  on  the  hill  top,"  yet  no 
year  passed  during  my  stay  at  the  University  without  making 
at  least  One  visit  to  that  sacred  shrine.  It  was  the  custom  of 
quite  a  number  of  us  students  and  many  fair  daughters  of 
Albemarle  to  unite  in  giving  upon  those  spacious  and  secluded 
grounds  annual  May-parties,  and  the  days  thus  spent  stand 
out  now  in  after  life  with  unusual  brightness.  Each  year 
we  found  it  the  same  dilapidated,  heartrending  object,  ex- 
periencing no  change  save  for  the  worse,  presided  over  by  the 
old  keeper,  more  dead  than  alive,  ever  glad  to  greet  a  strange 
and  youthful  face,  and  when  in  numbers,  as  on  those  festive 
May  occasions,  his  joy  knew  no  bounds,  for  we  not  only 
brought  him  abundant  sunshine,  but  what  possibly  was  more 
appreciated  and  to  his  liking — many  dainties  and  dimes.  No 
one  enjoyed  more  than  he  the  coronation  of  May  Queen  and 
the  reverberations  through  that  grove  and  palatial  mansion 
of  music's  sweet  strains  furnished  by  the  Charlottesville  String 
Band. 

It  certainly  is  very  gratifying  to  realize  that  the  "  little 
mountain  "  top  of  to-day  is  not  what  it  was  then ;  that  the 
deadly  pall  no  longer  enshrouds  the  historic  home,  for  in  the 
hands  of  its  present  owner,  Mr.  Jefferson  M.  Levy,  it  has 
been  restored  to  its  original  condition,  so  that  life  and  manners 
seem  again  to  flourish  there  as  in  primeval  times.  The 
little  graveyard  now  is  not  quite  the  neglected  and  despoiled 


224  UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA 

spot  as  then,  for  happily  by  order  of  Congress,  1882,  the 
original  much  defaced  and  unlettered  monument  was  replaced 
by  one  carrying  strikingly  the  same  outline  but  greater  pro- 
portions (granite,  twelve  to  fifteen  feet  high,  two  and  a  half 
feet  at  the  base  tapering  to  fourteen  inches  at  the  summit), 
and  bearing  the  Jeffersonian  epitaph — 'identical  with  that 
originally  inscribed  on  the  marble  slab  set  into  its  predecessor. 
With  this  order  also  came  the  removal  of  the  crumbling  and 
disintegrated  brick  wall  around  the  enclosure,  and  the  sub- 
stitution of  a  more  attractive  and  durable  iron  railing,  with 
gate  bearing  the  Latin  proverb — Mr.  Jefferson's  crest  motto : 
"  Ab  Eo  Libertas,  A  Quo  Spiritus."  Monticello  of  to-day 
needs  no  apology,  the  wrongs  have  been  arighted — she  lives 
as  does  her  immortal  Jefferson. 

Home-letter,  Sunday  afternoon,  November  24th,  1872.  My  dear 
Grandmother:  As  it  was  your  request  that  I  write  my  only  "dear  old 
grandmother"  soon  after  reaching  the  University,  I  am  going  to  devote 
at  least  an  hour  of  this  beautiful  afternoon  to  its  fulfillment.  The  work 
here  keeps  me  very  busy,  causing  the  weeks  to  pass  in  rapid  succession, 
so  that  these  together  form  my  apology  for  what  you  no  doubt  have 
considered  already  an  unnecessary  delay — possibly  a  violation  of  a  prom- 
ise. This  I  trust,  however,  though  late,  will  atone  for  any  entertained 
misgivings.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  I  have  recounted  about  all  of  my  doings 
since  leaving  home  in  weekly  letters  to  mother,  and  as  you  see  each 
other  often  I  am  confident  their  contents  have  furnished  material  to  a 
certain  extent  for  conversation.  But  at  the  risk  of  repetition  I  must 
express  to  you  direct  my  very  great  satisfaction  with  the  University, 
where  I  think  one  may  gain  as  much,  if  not  more,  knowledge  than  at  any 
other  institution  in  our  country.  Here  we  all  are  southerners  together 
and  extremely  friendly  to  one  another.  The  morals  of  the  young  men 
are  exceedingly  high  and  nowhere  I  fancy  could  be  surpassed.  .  .  . 
We  are  located  practically  among  the  Blue  Ridge  mountains,  which  make 
it  cool  in  both  winter  and  summer.  Upon  my  arrival  their  crest  and 
slopes  were  clad  in  verdant  grass,  but  already  several  times  snowy  white- 
caps  have  been  visible.  Winters  here,  however,  I  am  confident  are  less 
severe  than  with  you.  .  .  .  The  buildings  of  the  University  were  con- 
structed by  Thomas  Jefferson,  and  to-day  they  stand,  with  a  few  addi- 
tions, a  gigantic  monument  to  his  wisdom  and  greatness.  Their  descrip- 
tion can  better  be  told  than  written,  so  I  will  wait  and  do  that  at  Christ- 
mas. Nor  can  I  write  much  of  the  town — I  understand  an  incorporated 
city — of  Charlottesville,  from  which  we  are  one  mile  distant,  for  as  yet  I 
know  only  a  few  students  who  reside  there  and  have  enjoyed  no  visiting 
among  her  people,  that  which  is  quite  essential  in  order  to  speak  intelli- 
gently of  a  place.  We  walk  there  nearly  every  afternoon  for  exercise, 
and  it  seems  right  active  in  business,  having  many  stores,  two  newspapers, 
Chronicle  and  Jeffersonian,  half  a  dozen  churches,  town  hall,  Court  House, 
and  claims  a  population  beyond  five  thousand.  .  .  .  This  climate  seems 
to  favor  typhoid  fever,  as  a  number  of  students  have  already  had  it  this 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  225 

session.  Whether  they  came  with  the  seed  of  disease  lurking  in  their  sys- 
tem or  contracted  it  here  is  to  be  determined  by  the  physicians  of  the 
University.  One  student  died  on  Thursday  and  his  remains  were  sent 
home  to  South  Carolina  on  the  noon  train  yesterday,  several  students 
going  along.  The  funeral  was  preached  in  the  hall  of  the  Washington 
Literary  Society,  and  there  were  no  family  mourners,  the  long  distance 
preventing  any  one  coming  from  his  home.  All  the  others  are  reported 
as  improving.  Personally  I  am  well,  but  at  first  had  a  slight  attack  of 
malaria,  which  soon  yielded  to  a  physician's  treatment.  ...  I  am 
looking  forward  with  much  pleasure  to  spending  ten  days  with  you  all 
at  Christmas,  so  will  then  report  to  you  often  with  tongue  hung  in  the 
center.  .  .  . 

The  new  student  soon  heard  much  of  the  many  secret  fra- 
ternities and  the  two  open  literary  societies — Jeff,  and  Wash. 
— and  observed  that  while  fraternity  membership  depended 
upon  good  fellowship,  social  qualities,  creditable  class  stand- 
ing and  thorough  acquaintance — commendations  requiring 
time  for  development,  unless  one's  favorable  reputation  as 
gained  elsewhere  had  been  heralded  in  advance  by  kind  friends 
— that  on  the  other  hand  membership  in  either  literary  society 
carried  no  such  restrictions,  they  being  accessible  from  the 
very  first  to  every  matriculant  desiring  to  sign  the  constitution 
and  pay  the  initiation  fee  of  ten  dollars.  Both  societies,  as 
far  as  merits,  advantages,  weekly  debates,  prominent  members 
in  the  present  and  past,  and  aspirants  for  positions  of  honor 
received  not  a  little  general  discussion,  often  furnishing  much 
of  our  table  talk. 

The  Jeff(erson)  was  established  during  the  first  ses- 
sion of  the  University,  July  14,  1825,  at  No.  7  West 
Lawn,  having  as  its  object  the  promotion  of  debate  and  literary 
improvement,  and  at  first  had  the  phase  of  secrecy,  which  was 
abolished  after  a  time.  Its  badge  was  a  scroll  breastpin  of 
polished  gold,  about  an  inch  long  and  fully  half  that  wide, 
bearing  upon  the  front  the  inscription:  Jeff.  Soc.  U.  V., 
crossed  pens  and  three  Greek  letters  <p  K  8,  and  upon  the  re- 
verse side,  Haec  olim  meminisse  juvabit,  together  with  the 
individual's  name. 

The  Wash(ington)  was  established  during  the  session 
1834-35,  by  the  merging  of  two  other  societies  that  had  ex- 
isted several  years,  having  a  similar  object,  purpose  and  man- 
agement to  the  Jeff.,  but  usually  a  slightly  less  membership, 
which  in  each  approximated  one  hundred. 


226  UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA 

For  years  each  of  these  societies  gave  Intermediate  and 
Final  Celebrations,  but  in  my  day  only  the  latter  were  ob- 
served— during  Commencement  Week — the  Wash,  selecting 
Monday  evening,  the  Jeff.  Tuesday.  These  entertainments 
consisted  strictly  of  society  talent,  except  the  music,  opening 
prayer  and  benediction — the  former  generally  furnished  by  a 
Baltimore,  Washington  or  Richmond  band;  the  latter  by  the 
University  chaplain — and  lasted  about  one  and  a  half  hours, 
during  which  the  president  delivered  an  address  of  welcome  to 
the  audience,  showered  kind  expressions  upon  fellow  students, 
and  introduced  the  orator,  who  spoke  twenty  or  thirty  minutes 
upon  some  entertaining  or  otherwise  subject.  The  president 
then  conferred  in  complimentary  sentences  the  debater's  medal 
upon  the  selected  recipient,  who,  with  a  five  or  ten  minute 
speech  concluded  the  program.  Thereafter  came  an  open  air 
band  concert  from  the  stand  erected  for  the  occasion  on  the 
Lawn,  about  two  hundred  feet  from  the  Rotunda,  during 
which  a  general  promenading  around  the  brightly  illumi- 
nated (Chinese  lanters,  etc.)  arcades,  and  attendance  upon 
one  or  more  receptions,  given  each  night  by  the  several  pro- 
fessors, were  enjoyed.  It  may  be  of  interest  to  recall  the 
method  employed  at  that  period  of  selecting  the  President, 
Orator  and  Medalist  for  the  functions — a  balloting  vote  of 
the  members — so  analogous  to  pure  and  simple  politics  of 
our  maturer  years. 

The  aspirants  for  the  presidency  usually  were  scarce,  as 
the  position  exacted  a  particular  kind  of  man — one  with  a 
social  and  friendly  nature,  clever  and  frank  manners,  and 
abundant  time  for  indulging  these  qualities  without  the  re- 
semblance of  abuse.  He  must  be  always  urbane  and  polite, 
avoiding  excessive  demonstration;  manly  and  constant,  never 
allowing  the  feelings  to  measure  the  degree  of  affability  or 
the  weather  to  influence  the  hand-shake — in  being  warm,  never 
cold.  He  could  not  afford  to  turn  the  back  when  the  face 
was  needed,  nor  use  the  tongue  save  in  praise  and  defence — 
mollifying  at  all  times  various  aspersions  and  the  venomous 
sting  of  slander.  Added  to  all  this  he  should  possess  money 
and  a  willingness  to  spend  it,  not  only  in  an  occasional  cheap 
supper,  but  in  the  complimentary  payment  of  initiation  fees 
under  extenuating  circumstances.  The  question  of  fraternity 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  227 

membership  played  little  advantage — indeed,  the  rivalry  be- 
tween these  sometimes  weakened  chances  of  success,  favoring 
those  not  so  entangled.  After  all  it  was  the  natural  born 
politician,  with  time  and  money  at  his  disposal  that  stood 
farthest  from  defeat — possessions  that  fell  to  the  lot  of  few 
in  those  unsettled  days.  Thus  there  were  three  ways  of  com- 
manding leisure:  an  unusual  intellect,  a  short  course,  and 
indifference  to  class  standing — the  former  alone  commending 
itself  to  the  students,  the  latter  two  simple  possibilities  to 
those  so  inclined.  The  monetary  power,  however,  could  play 
but  little  part,  being  beyond  the  grasp  of  the  great  majority, 
as  southern  finances  were  depleted  and  nearly  every  represent- 
ative stood  for — the  most  knowledge  in  the  least  time — to 
become  all  the  sooner  a  money-maker  rather  than  a  money- 
spender.  The  system  was  wrong  and  denounced  by  many, 
but  retained  from  precedent,  knowing  nothing  better.  Just 
to  think  of  the  several  contestants  and  supporters  so  embittered 
against  one  another  as  scarcely  to  speak  in  passing — an  en- 
mity extending  in  a  few  cases  over  a  large  portion  of  their 
University  career — and  you  have  the  situation.  A  regular 
political  campaign  with  its  excitement  and  consequences.  Un- 
fortunately youth  is  intolerant  of  adverse  opinions,  relentless 
and  unforgiving  in  strong  differences,  so  that  contests  of  this 
kind  engendered  more  harm  than  good,  and  it  was  only  by 
making  one's  better  manhood  assert  itself  that  those  most  in- 
terested in  time  resolved  to  forgive  and  forget.  Happily  the 
position  demanded  some  literary  ability  from  which  there  was 
no  escape,  and  every  would-be  applicant  knew  the  danger  of 
overestimating  personal  fitness,  as  that  had  to  be  passed  upon, 
publicly,  at  the  Saturday  night  meetings  throughout  the  ses- 
sion— when  he  entered  into  debate  and  speech-making.  Some 
gave  numerous  demonstrations,  in  fact  too  many  for  their 
own  good,  others  were  contented  with  two  or  three. 

The  position  of  orator  seemed  to  elicit  least  concern,  rivalry 
and  rancor,  the  aspirants  experiencing  little  difficulty  in  at- 
taining their  ambition,  chiefly  because  we  recognized  orators 
to  be  born  and  not  made.  It  was  an  acknowledged  fact  that 
the  best  talent  in  this  line  lay  in  the  law  department  among  the 
second  year  men,  who  had  enjoyed  Moot  Court  and  other  spe- 
cial training,  but  most  of  such  were  handicapped  by  being 


228  UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA 

applicants  for  graduation,  in  which  they  preferred  to  take  no 
chances  by  diverting  sufficient  time  to  familiarize,  write  and 
memorize  a  speech  containing  original  and  wholesome  material 
upon  a  subject  affording  pleasure  to  and  praise  from  the  pub- 
lic. The  possible  honors  being  considered  problematic — much 
work  and  little  glory — when  one  announced  his  desire  to  be 
our  orator  he  generally  received  unanimous  support,  especially 
if  he  be  a  law  student  of  good  standing  and  address,  and  could 
convince  us  in  one  or  more  efforts  of  ability  to  speak  with  in- 
telligence and  composure.  There  was  one  other  restriction 
with  which  the  orators  had  to  contend — that  of  submitting 
their  manuscript  to  a  Committee  of  the  Faculty  for  approval — 
a  custom  inaugurated  only  a  short  while  before  my  entrance, 
and  made  necessary  through  the  unwillingness  of  the  young 
Southern  enthusiasts  immediately  after  the  war  to  let  bygones 
be  bygones,  continuing  to  harp  upon  what  they  believed  its 
injustices,  political  wrongs  and  reconstruction  crimes,  to  the 
displeasure  of  the  Faculty  and  the  great  majority  of  the  older 
heads.  It  was  related  with  considerable  gusto  that  during  the 
preceding  summer  (1872)  when  one  of  the  orators  visited 
Professor  Holmes,  Chairman  of  the  Approval  Committee,  and 
laid  before  him  the  pages  of  his  proposed  speech,  the  profes- 
sor remarked :  "Now,  I  do  hope  you  have  not  condescended 
to  select  a  subject  of  low  order,  particularly  one  pertaining  to 
the  late  bitter  strife,  or  one  that  might  compromise  our  insti- 
tution in  any  way."  To  which  the  young  man  replied :  "  Far 
from  it,  far  from  it  Professor,  I  have  not  touched  a  single 
thing  on  this  mundane  sphere ;  I  have  restricted  myself  entirely 
to  celestial  bodies  " — The  night  brings  forth  the  stars. 

The  position  of  medalist  was  guarded  with  far  greater  care 
and  interest,  being  the  most  desirable  within  the  gift  of  the 
Societies,  and  stood  not  only  for  high  excellence  in  debating 
and  speaking,  but  backed  by  a  fifty  dollar  gold  medal — a  glit- 
tering and  durable  testimonial  of  ability  well-expressed.  Here 
usually  was  centered  even  more  excitement  and  rivalry  than 
around  the  presidency,  as  the  contestants  were  of  greater 
number  and  their  merit  less  easy  to  judge  with  equity  and 
justice.  Each  entered  many  general  and  specific  debates,  pre- 
pared and  unprepared,  affording  abundant  opportunity  for  a 
fair  estimate  of  capacity,  strength,  weakness  and  unfitness, 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  229 

and  whatever  may  have  been  the  kindly  feeling  towards  any 
special  one,  it  may  be  said  to  the  credit  of  his  admirers 
and  companions,  that  they  would  withhold  support  unless  he 
was  found  to  possess  a  certain  degree  of  natural  talent — as 
otherwise  the  reputation  of  the  Societies  and  University  would 
suffer,  that  which  we  recognized  was  our  highest  and  lasting 
duty  to  protect.  The  chief  fault  was  in  allowing  friendship 
sometimes  to  go  so  far  as  to  be  satisfied  with  less  than  the 
greatest  available  merit,  but  here,  as  with  the  President  and 
Orator,  I  never  saw  a  Medalist  an  indifferent  debater,  or  fail 
at  the  Final  Celebration  to  give  general  satisfaction  in  his 
speech.  However,  the  truth  remained,  that  occasionally  we 
did  not  choose  our  most  gifted  members,  and  in  consequence 
of  that  injustice  both  Societies  were  well-pleased  when  the 
Faculty  two  years  later  took  matters  into  its  own  hands  and 
announced  a  plan  for  the  future  which  would  serve  the  best 
interest  of  all  concerned. 


CHAPTER  XII 
LITERARY  SOCIETIES;  DEBATES  AND  CELEBRATIONS 

Became  a  member  of  the  Jeff.;  recorded  many  of  the  debates,  excerpts 
from  a  few — Wickes,  Saunders,  Smith,  Herron,  Brent,  Green,  Clark, 
etc. ;  trip  home  at  Christmas ;  excerpts  from  diary ;  sickness  and  death 
of  Professor  McGuffey ;  accident  to  room-mate — Pearce ;  closing  weeks 
of  the  session ;  remained  for  Commencement ;  sermon  by  Rev.  J.  Wil- 
liam Jones ;  Wash.  Celebration — Richard  H.  Maury,  John  W.  Stephen- 
son,  Fergus  R.  Graham;  Jeff.  Celebration — B.  Chambers  Wickes,  Wil- 
liam R.  Alexander,  John  Sharp  Williams,  etc. 

SOME  months  before  entering  the  University,  in  looking 
over  the  catalogue  I  noticed  the  name  of  the  only  student  that 
lived  within  reasonable  distance  of  my  home,  Mr.  B.  C.  Wickes, 
whom  I  surmised  a  son  of  Judge  Joseph  A.  Wickes,  a  member 
of  the  Maryland  Bench,  a  gentleman  of  good  legal  attainments 
and  sound  judicial  ability — highly  respected,  honored  and  be- 
loved in  his  Court  circuit.  With  him  my  father  was  well 
acquainted,  but  whether  the  supposed  son  intended  returning 
to  the  University  was  unknown  to  me  for  at  least  a  week 
after  my  arrival  there,  when  he  made  a  social  call  at  my  room. 
He  spoke  of  having  seen  a  recent  newspaper  notice  of  my 
proposed  entrance ;  that  he  had  inquired  of  several  concerning 
my  arrival  and  location,  and  hoped  we  would  be  friendly  and 
companionable  during  our  sojourn  together.  It  happened  that 
he  also  roomed  on  Dawson's  Row,  not  far  from  me,  and 
took  meals  at  the  same  boarding  house  (Ross5),  so  that 
throughout  the  session,  his  last,  we  saw  not  a  little  of  each 
other.  As  developments  proved  there  was  a  stronger  ulterior 
motive  connected  with  Mr.  Wickes'  initial  visit  than  the  es- 
tablishment of  simple  friendship,  since  he  had  an  ambition  to 
become  Final  President  of  the  Jeff.,  and  was  leaving  nothing 
unturned  in  securing  new  members.  He  was  what  I  call  an 
impulsive  politician,  but  possessed  many  forceful  qualities — 
visited  freshmen  as  early  as  possible,  gave  fraternal  advice, 
impressed  the  necessity  of  joining  a  literary  society,  and  the 

230 


University — McCormick  Observatory 
(Erected  1882-83) 


University— Madison  Hall— Y.  M.  C.  A. 
(Erected  1905) 


FACING   23O 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  231 

great  advantages  of  the  Jeff,  over  the  Wash.,  not  as  he  con- 
ceived them,  but,  as  he  said,  they  really  were.  From  the  first 
he  insisted  upon  proposing  my  name  for  membership,  offering 
gratuitous  initiation  fee,  which  I  declined  but  otherwise  will- 
ingly followed  his  pleasure.  Having  joined  I  naturally  thought 
it  a  duty  to  attend  the  regular  Saturday  night  meetings, 
which  I  found  entertaining  in  the  knowledge  gained  from  in- 
telligent and  spirited  debate.  The  hall,  located  about  midway 
West  Range,  was  furnished  suitably  with  carpet  (red),  dra- 
peries, desks  and  chairs,  well  heated  and  cared  for,  and  as  it 
was  colder  in  the  rear  near  the  door,  I  usually  occupied  a  seat 
towards  the  front  where  by  paying  moderate  attention  most  of 
the  arguments  could  easily  be  followed.  The  next  day  (Sun- 
day) I  would  spend  an  hour  in  writing  down  the  salient 
points  of  the  discussion,  and  referring  now  to  that  note  book, 
1  find  only  one  record  of  Mr.  Wickes  having  taken  active 
part,  February  22,  1873,  which  I  distinctly  remember  was 
styled  then  by  some,  a  final  trial-contest  to  prove  his  meriting 
the  honors  sought — that  disputed  by  some,  but  happily  estab- 
lished on  this  occasion  to  the  full  satisfaction  of  his  many 
friends.  A  portion  of  these  notes,  in  spite  of  youthful  crudi- 
ties, may  be  reproduced  here  in  order  to  show  what  impression 
those  debates  made  upon  me  and  what  subject-matter  I  then 
considered  worthy  of  transcribing: 

Jeff.  Society,  Saturday  night,  February  22,  1873.  Ques- 
tion :  Which  is  the  more  pernicious  vice — flattery  or  slander  ? 

Mr.  Saunders  (Aff.). — Opened  debate  by  declaring,  that 
some  considered  prefatory  remarks  inelegant,  but  on  this  oc- 
casion he  regarded  them  eminently  proper — far  better  than 
pleading  not  having  given  the  subject  any  thought,  or  claiming 
to  be  absolutely  unprepared.  He  rejoiced  in  being  assigned 
to  his  side  of  the  question,  convinced  that  much  could  be 
made  out  of  it  by  the  right  parties,  whereas  the  negative  had 
little,  if  anything,  to  commend  it;  claimed  that  all  important 
nations  had  attained  their  greatness  chiefly  through  flattery 
and  praise,  and  that  the  perpetuity  and  success  of  the  human 
race  had  been  due  to  its  power  and  influence.  After  reciting 
many  quotations  from  the  Bible  and  without  special  credit  for 
the  effort,  he  yielded  the  floor  to  his  associate. 

Mr.   Smith    (Aff.). — Charmed  us  with  eloquence,  spread- 


232  UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA 

ing  himself  like  the  limbs  of  a  big  bay  tree  as  he  gave  his 
several  illustrations.  Mentioned  a  certain  scholarly  gentle- 
man, who,  having  been  elevated  to  the  Senate  and  acquired 
a  fortune,  was  brought  by  merciless  slander  to  an  untimely 
death;  a  lady,  who,  with  beauty  and  purity  unsurpassed,  was 
pining  away  the  few  remaining  days  of  life  amid  solitude 
and  melancholy  due  to  that  defaming  monster — slander; 
claimed  it  impossible  to  arouse  feminine  emotions  through 
flattery,  and  that  every  living  soul  preferred  it  in  a  generous 
degree  to  the  mildest  slander.  Often  teachers  in  the  hope  of 
encouraging  pupils,  even  those  not  yet  beyond  the  obstacles 
of  the  speller,  make  the  boldest  assertions — work  a  little 
harder,  put  in  a  trifle  more  time,  and  you  will  accomplish  the 
difficult  task,  perchance  become  President  of  our  great  coun- 
try— mindful  all  the  time  of  a  lurking  falsehood  in  their 
statements,  but  condoned  as  a  piece  of  flattery  that  may  lead 
to  good  results.  Often  mothers  sacrifice  comfort  for  our 
pleasure,  and  how  few  of  us  show  the  least  signs  of  gratitude, 
far  less  give  a  complimentary  or  flattering  word!  But  what 
a  difference  when  outsiders  do  us  the  slightest  favor,  as  then 
we  overwhelm  them  with  flattery  and  praise — that  which 
usually  is  not  to  their  dissatisfaction.  After  a  young  man  with 
several  rivals  succeeds  at  their  expense  in  winning  the  object 
of  his  affections,  how  often  those  outwitted  extend  profuse 
congratulations  and  best  wishes — far  beyond  the  heart's  im- 
pulse— which  is  infinitely  more  generous  than  words  of  dis- 
approval and  resentment.  Mr.  Smith  in  his  second  speech 
replied  to  several  caustic  references  made  by  Mr.  Wickes,  and 
reaffirmed  his  conviction  that  no  virtuous  woman  had  ever 
gone  morally  wrong  through  the  single  agency  of  flattery,  but 
invariably  by  having  the  emotions  aroused  by  other  kinetic 
influences;  that  although  she  be  flattered  to  the  extreme,  yet 
finally  it  would  reflect  negatively  upon  the  one  conferring  it. 
He  cited  a  case  of  two  gentlemen  visiting  a  certain  lady, 
wherein  the  discarded  lover,  imitating  the  handwriting  of 
the  one  accepted,  wrote  forged  letters  of  a  contradictory  sen- 
timent that  seriously  suggested  to  the  lady  a  vacillating  dis- 
position on  the  part  of  the  true  lover,  resulting  in  distrust, 
denouncement  and  alienation  on  her  side  and  suicide  on  his — 
all  the  result  of  slander. 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  233 

Mr.  Wickes  (Neg.). — Began  with  many  eloquent  and  fan- 
ciful appeals,  and,  somewhat  embarrassed  at  the  start,  made 
several  minor  errors  in  statement — one  against  Mr.  Saunders 
having  to  be  retracted  in  his  final  summary.  He  thought 
Mr.  Smith  had  gotten  far  from  truth  in  the  assertion — one 
deprived  of  his  reputation  is  robbed  necessarily  of  his  char- 
acter; that  he  had  given  this  phase  of  the  subject  considerable 
thought,  even  had  consulted  Professors  Holmes  and  McGuf- 
fey,  who  were  of  the  contra  opinion — believing  that  one  who 
possessed  a  bad  reputation  in  a  certain  locality  might  seek 
another  and  by  a  new  order  of  conduct  create  a  different 
impression,  secure  a  creditable  standing,  and  thereby  prove 
the  ever-presence  of  character.  He  believed  flattery  had 
brought  the  sunny  South  to  her  present  condition  by  praising 
and  overvaluing  her  strength,  and  had  beguiled  many  fair 
maidens  into  leading  immoral  lives.  Claimed  that  Aristides 
and  other  noted  Grecians  and  Romans,  humbled  by  adversity, 
had  been  led  by  flattery  to  be  so  self-assertive  and  intolerable 
as  to  be  banished  or  put  to  death ;  that  all  great  empires  and 
nations  had  fallen  through  the  agency  of  conceit  and  flattery. 
In  his  second  speech  he  replied  most  forcibly  to  the  arguments 
of  his  opponents  and  concluded  with  the  inquiry :  Which  was 
it,  flattery  or  slander  that  caused  Adam  and  Eve  to  be  driven 
from  the  Garden  of  Eden?  Upon  submitting  the  question  to 
the  society  for  decision,  the  vote  stood  eighteen  to  eighteen, 
but  when  that  of  the  president's  was  recorded  in  the  negative, 
Mr.  Wickes  and  his  friends  knew  apparently  no  bound  of  joy. 
This  debate  occasioned  no  little  talk  on  the  outside,  as  some 
claimed  that  Mr.  Wickes  had  taken  much  of  his  argument 
from  a  certain  "  Debating  Manual,"  of  which  many  students 
had  copies,  but  his  manly  reply  completely  disarmed  the  evil 
tongues  of  his  traducers,  since  he  freely  admitted  using  the 
work  referred  to  and  named  several  others  in  his  possession 
that  had  given  him  valuable  information,  without  whose  aid 
no  sensible  young  man  should  attempt  publicly  any  intelli- 
gent discussion. 

Jeff.  Society,  Saturday  night,  March  i,  1873.  Question: 
Should  judges  be  appointed  or  elected? 

Mr.  Herron  (Aff.). — Claimed  that  no  government  had 
stood  for  any  length  of  time  that  elected  its  judiciary — the 


234  UNIVERSITY    OF   VIRGINIA 

republican  perishing  sooner  than  the  monarchical;  that  in  all 
Europe  the  higher  positions  are  filled  by  the  King  or  Queen 
— the  judges  being  appointed  for  life  unless  conduct  decreed 
otherwise;  that  mighty  Rome,  the  city  of  heroes  and  learned 
men,  where  the  great  Cicero  had  his  rearing,  fostered  the 
election  of  judges  by  the  populace,  while  noble  Athens,  though 
largely  through  Roman  jealousy,  declined  and  fell  adhering 
to  similar  principles;  that  all  republics,  English  speaking  or 
otherwise,  having  judges  selected  by  the  people,  are  doomed 
to  dissolution  and  extinction.  It  is  perfectly  evident  that  the 
rank  and  file  have  not  sufficient  good  judgment  to  exercise 
properly  the  elective  franchise ;  that  where  a  ruler,  uninfluenced 
by  party  feeling,  appoints  judges  the  result  is  better  for  the 
welfare  of  his  nation  and  people.  Washington  when  elected 
President  appointed  his  cabinet  and  able  assistants  in  pursu- 
ance of  a  most  liberal  policy — not  alone  those  of  his  own 
faith  but  the  best  throughout  the  land,  irrespective  of  tenet 
or  creed.  His  example,  although  most  worthy  and  com- 
mendable, has  not  been  emulated  by  any  successor,  showing 
the  proneness  of  even  the  great  to  fall  in  narrow  lines  and 
pervert  that  which  is  best.  We  see  in  our  day  the  climax  to 
which  party  strife  may  reach ;  how  those  in  power  tolerate  and 
perpetuate  evil  doings  in  office  to  the  extent  of  diabolical  cor- 
ruption and  rottenness — all  the  outgrowth  of  political  hatred 
and  prejudice  through  public  ignorance.  Those  who  run  for 
office  are  often  not  the  ones  who  should  have  the  honorsx  but 
if  the  promotion  was  alone  through  a  Supreme  Chief — whose 
judgment  is  wise  in  foretelling  qualifications,  possessed  and 
required  for  filling  various  positions — then  results  would  be 
far  more  healthy  and  satisfactory.  Indeed,  men  of  true  char- 
acter, in  these  times  of  feverish  activity,  are  not  office  seekers, 
as  there  is  no  incentive  for  those  desiring  to  preserve  the  in- 
alienable principles  of  the  government  to  enter  politics.  At 
present  there  is  no  honor  in  being  elected  judge,  as  one-third 
of  our  voters  are  illiterate,  consequently  know  not  the  quali- 
fications for  a  judgeship,  the  nice  distinctions  between  men, 
and  how  to  act  at  the  polls  with  intelligent  judgment.  Our 
government  is  departing  fast  from  its  former  high  ideals,  and 
in  time  we  will  find  ourselves  under  a  dominating  power  vastly 
different  from  that  of  our  early  fathers.  Certainly  as  a  nation 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  235 

we  are  losing  our  purity  of  act  and  thought,  while  the  impulse 
to  do  good  for  the  nation  alone  is  sadly  lessening.  George 
III.,  although  rather  a  bad  ruler  himself,  did  not  fail  to  give 
good  advice  and  laws  by  which  the  people  might  be  governed, 
not  they  govern  themselves,  and  one  was  the  desirability  to 
appoint  and  not  to  elect  incumbents  to  higher  offices.  Little 
did  Washington,  Jefferson,  Adams  and  Madison  think  when 
forming  this  government  and  its  constitution  that  the  present 
conditions  would  ever  exist — that  their  hopes  and  realizations 
would  be  so  disappointing.  They  believed  that  whenever 
judges  and  important  leaders  are  to  be  elected  by  general  vote, 
then  the  masses  should  be  well-informed  and  educated — re- 
moved from  a  contentious,  short-sighted  animus,  above  self- 
interest  and  the  doing  of  public  wrongs,  actuated  by  honorable 
principles  in  guarding  the  enforcement  of  the  people's  will — 
then  and  only  then  is  a  republic  superior  to  a  monarchy.  As 
a  matter  of  fact,  however,  there  has  never  been  a  nation 
whose  people  measured  and  lived  up  to  these  higher  ideals  for 
a  long  time,  so  we  must  conclude,  that  the  government  using 
mostly  cautious  appointing  power  is  the  one  that  endures 
longest  by  virtue  of  having  its  affairs  managed  best. 

Jeff.  Society,  Saturday  night,  March  15,  1873.  Question: 
Is  our  country  (nation)  on  the  decline? 

This  debate  was  opened  affirmatively  by  a  gentleman  having 
at  least  twenty-five  pages  of  manuscript  with  an  unnecessary 
introduction:  Little  did  he  think,  when  a  few  weeks  ago  he 
permitted  himself  to  become  a  member  of  this  society,  that  in 
so  short  a  time  he  would  be  assigned  such  onerous  duties  as 
lay  before  him  to-night.  He  considered  the  question  of  great 
scope,  requiring  several  subdivisions  and  much  preparation 
for  its  proper  discussion.  Claimed  that  while  our  home  com- 
merce was  increasing,  our  foreign  had  greatly  diminished 
since  the  Civil  War,  although  prior  thereto  it  had  shown  a 
gradual  and  satisfactory  growth ;  that  through  the  Suez  Canal 
many  ships  pass  daily  bearing  produce  of  other  countries, 
but  scarcely  any  of  our  own ;  that  Great  Britain,  Germany  and 
France  surpass  us  in  the  general  interchange  of  world  com- 
modities; that  we  are  increasing  rapidly  in  population,  not 
only  with  our  Anglo-Saxons,  but  with  many  mingled  races — 
Irish,  Germans,  Italians,  Chinese,  Bohemians,  Poles,  Norwe- 


236  UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA 

gians,  Russians,  Swedes,  Celts,  etc.,  yet  as  a  fact  this  cannot  be 
considered  an  advantage,  as  all  ancient  and  modern  history 
shows  that  no  nation  has  survived  long  with  a  composite  popu- 
lation. As  we  are  now  on  equality  with  all,  it  cannot  be 
doubted  but  that  in  time  we  will  be  the  conquered  race — pos- 
sibly the  negro  the  ruling  one.  In  1800  our  population  was 
three  and  a  half  millions,  to-day  it  is  forty  millions,  and  if 
our  increase  for  the  next  century  be  in  the  same  proportion 
we  will  have  one  hundred  and  fifty  millions.  The  great  and 
important  point  to  be  considered  here  is  the  direction  in  which 
this  increase  is  to  take  place — our  own  race  blood  predomi- 
nating, so  that  we  may  derive  good  and  not  evil.  I  agree  with 
Henry  Clay  and  many  other  great  men — that  the  increase  of 
dominion  will  not  aid  our  prosperity,  but  may  involve  us  in 
untold  expense  and  complication.  Mr.  Clay  advocated  our 
boundaries  to  remain  as  they  were — the  Pacific  on  the  west, 
the  Atlantic  on  the  east,  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  on  the  south, 
and  the  great  lakes  on  the  north — believing  the  less  we  possess 
the  greater  the  ambition  to  improve  it.  I  also  agree  with  many, 
that  our  country  is  degenerating  morally  and  politically — a 
fact  that  needs  only  proof  in  the  persistent  endeavor  of  the 
North  to  oppress  the  South,  and  in  the  determination  of  our 
President  to  retain  in  office  those  having  dishonest,  insincere 
and  sinister  motives,  rather  than  those  willing  to  stamp  out 
corrupt  and  fraudulent  practices. 

Mr.  Brent  (Aff.). — Affirmed  his  intention  to  discuss  only 
the  political  disposition  of  our  government,  as  upon  party 
purity  the  success  or  failure  of  our  nation  necessarily  depends. 
He  compared  us  tp  ancient  Rome,  believing  against  hope  that 
our  fate  was  to  be  similar ;  he  recognized  the  fundamental  prin- 
ciple of  our  government,  the  foundation  of  the  constitution, 
as  framed  by  Washington,  Jefferson,  Adams  and  Madison, 
to  be  centered  in  the  one  idea,  states-rights — a  fact  our  present 
rulers  seem  determined  to  deny  and  disregard.  Certainly  it 
is  a  paramount  question,  otherwise  it  would  not  have  been 
such  a  bone  of  contention  these  many  years,  for  even  in  the 
days  of  the  great  trio,  Clay,  Webster,  Calhoun,  the  Senate 
was  in  continuous  agitation  over  measures  impinging  more  or 
less  upon  it.  It  has  furnished  the  great  dividing  line  between 
the  North  and  South,  and  although  Mr.  Webster  became  a 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  237 

bold  and  fearless  advocate  of  his  people's  sentiments,  yet  he 
was  simply  their  mouth-piece  and  servant,  as  at  heart  he  sym- 
pathized with  the  South,  believing  in  her  claim  and  that  she 
was  contending  only  for  that  vouchsafed  by  the  constitution. 
There  lived  in  Pennsylvania  one  time  a  man  noted  through- 
out the  country  as  extremely  large  and  handsome,  who,  ac- 
cused of  treason  and  brought  to  trial,  made  such  a  hasty  and 
reckless  entrance  into  the  court-room  overcrowded  with  ladies 
and  gentlemen,  as  to  crush  to  the  dirty  floor  a  man  of  much 
smaller  size,  who  upon  gaining  his  feet  demanded  of  the  giant 
Adonis  the  right  and  reason  for  such  a  brutal  act,  only  to 
bring  forth  the  defiant  reply :  "  I  am  the  handsome  man  who 
is  to  be  tried  here  to-day  for  treason,  get  out  of  the  way  or 
take  the  consequences."  This  desire  of  the  strong  crushing 
the  weak  has  been  manifest  in  our  recent  war,  as  the  North 
has  let  the  edict  prevail — we  will  make  the  South  feel  what  we 
are — and  those  living  in  this  pillaged  land  sadly  realize  the 
force  of  that  sentiment.  The  party  now  in  power  pretend  to 
have  been  trying  to  restore  the  Union  for  the  past  seven 
years,  but  how  fruitless  has  been  the  effort !  Mr.  Grant  upon 
becoming  President  recommended  that  the  South  elect  her 
governors  and  legislatures,  but  afterwards,  under  pressure  of 
his  party-mongers,  ordered  all  those  elected  to  abdicate  office 
in  order  that  he  might  fill  those  positions  with  northern  car- 
pet-baggers, who  have  not  only  misruled,  but  have  suffered 
our  country  to  be  robbed  and  plundered  in  a  most  ruthless 
manner.  The  President  is  now  on  his  fifth  year  and  we  are 
informed  that  he  made  his  maiden  speech  a  few  days  ago, 
reading  it  from  manuscript — a  sad  commentary  upon  the  kind 
of  intellect  gracing  the  position — and  though  the  simile  is 
ungenerous  I  am  reminded  of  what  we  are  told  in  the  New 
Testament :  That  Balaam's  ass  opened  its  mouth  and  spoke, 
whereupon  it  was  recorded  marvelous  and  wonderful.  So 
may  this  utterance  of  the  President's  be  preserved  in  history 
as  most  strange  and  remarkable.  He  also  may  go  down  to 
posterity  as  a  lover  of  bull-pups,  although  the  papers  say  the 
last  one  sent  was  refused  acceptance  owing  to  expressage  not 
being  prepaid  but  upon  learning  it  had  a  long  and  valuable 
pedigree  hastened  to  reclaim  it  from  a  friend  to  whom  he  had 
given  it  in  lieu  of  conveyance  charges. 


238  UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA 

Jeff.  Society,  Saturday  night,  November  15,  1873.  Ques- 
tion :  Should  capital  punishment  be  abolished  ? 

Mr.  Green  (Neg.). — Impressed  the  fact  that  as  time  glides 
along  we  are  too  apt  to  forget  the  laws  and  commandments  of 
our  forefathers,  for  certainly  this  question  needs  no  settle- 
ment from  our  hands  to-night,  as  our  progenitors  in  the  dis- 
tant past,  after  great  thought  and  concern,  have  determined 
for  always,  that  wherever  civilized  communities  exist  none 
can  make  progress  without  some  dreaded  restraining  power 
over  those  inclined  to  violate  law  and  order.  Surely  anything 
short  of  capital  punishment  would  be  inimical  to  a  nation's 
safety  and  advancement — for  the  atoning  of  one's  crime  with 
life,  that  to  which  every  sane  person  clings  most  tenaciously, 
is  a  powerful  curbing  agency  to  the  lawless  inclined.  In  spite 
of  its  known  efficacy  some  states,  notably  Ohio,  have  abolished 
it,  accepting  instead  life  imprisonment,  while  only  a  few  years 
ago  a  bill  was  before  Congress  to  have  it  apply  to  the  whole 
country.  This  fortunately  was  defeated,  although  by  a  small 
majority,  but  this  national  expression  does  not  determine  the 
approximate  or  real  value  of  the  two  methods  for  all  times 
and  nations,  as  under  certain  quiescent  periods  in  every  coun- 
try the  lighter  punishment  might  suffice,  while  under  ex- 
tremely turbulent  conditions  the  more  severe  would  only  meet 
the  demands  of  justice.  In  our  country  I  believe  capital 
punishment  to  be  absolutely  imperative  in  order  that  the  chas- 
tity of  the  home  be  maintained  and  the  purity  of  society 
guarded.  He  alluded  to  the  circus  man  and  to  Myers,  who  was 
imprisoned  five  years  on  the  testimony  of  one  claiming  to 
have  heard  his  voice  in  the  crowd  where  the  murder  was  com- 
mitted. Two  other  men  also  were  arrested,  but  released  shortly 
afterwards,  when  public  feeling  had  largely  subsided.  Here 
hanging  would  have  been  a  great  injustice,  as  the  evidence 
was  vague  and  hypothetical.  I  admit,  like  all  questions,  this 
presents  two  sides,  and  that  the  negative  will  plead  the  hu- 
manitarian and  utilitarian  interests — the  removal  of  a  hus- 
band or  father  to  a  destitute  and  otherwise  dependent  family 
being  an  unnecessary  sorrow  and  loss  when  a  penitentiary 
service  for  life  might  be  turned  to  state  profit  and  revenue. 
But  this  phase  fades  into  insignificance  when  compared  with 
the  moral  degeneracy  all  communities  would  experience  from 


s, 

.3? 

lit 


si 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  239 

what  many  culprits  consider  not  an  objectionable  method  of 
paying  penalty. 

Messrs.  Smith  and  Clark  (Neg.) — Both  spoke  along  paral- 
lel lines,  believing  that  capital  punishment  was  instituted  not 
only  to  atone  a  specific  crime,  thereby  preventing  the  same  in- 
dividual committing  others,  but  by  example  to  deter  those  of 
similar  evil  impulses  from  taking  fatal  steps.  They  referred 
to  Salorn's  case,  who  murdered  his  brother  and  mother,  and 
after  two  trials  released,  possibly  to  kill  some  one  else  or  com- 
mit other  dastardly  deeds;  also  mentioned  the  Stokes'  and 
Walworth  crimes — how  defiant  and  indifferent  the  latter 
seemed  when  facing  death,  kissing  his  mother  as  under  no 
unusual  stress  of  mind.  Mr.  Smith  claimed  that  hanging  is 
recognized  more  generally  by  the  press  than  the  mere  sending 
of  a  convict  to  penitentiary  for  life,  thus  making  the  incident 
wider  known  and  its  influence  stronger  felt.  He  did  not  be- 
lieve criminals  generally  had  large  families,  or  contributed 
much  to  their  support,  hence  hanging  provides  a  good  rid- 
dance. 

While  these  debates  were  primarily  for  scholarly  improve- 
ment, they  had  injected  into  them  often  much  laughter 
and  amusement,  as  many  members  indulged  in  sarcasm,  in- 
vective and  ridicule — the  more  poignant  affording  the  great- 
est enjoyment  to  the  listeners.  Among  the  debaters  themselves 
this  was  accepted  as  no  intended  insult  or  reflection — simply 
an  opportunity  to  sharpen  wits  at  brilliant  repartee,  that  in 
which  some  were  well-gifted. 

Most  of  the  speaking  was  extempore,  often  with  attempt 
at  highly  gestured  oratory,  but  some  was  more  quiet  and  dig- 
nified from  notes  or  full  manuscript,  with  the  exception  of 
anecdotes  and  jokes.  It  was  so  soon  after  the  Civil  War, 
in  the  days  of  reconstruction,  that  many  subjects  discussed 
were  of  a  partisan  nature  calculated  for  the  introduction  of 
wild,  ill-timed  and  rancorous  criticism — that  which  became 
greatly  modified  towards  the  close  of  my  period,  and  at  best 
amounted  to  nothing  more  than  a  wrangling  of  words,  as  all 
thought  alike  upon  such  topics.  There  was  no  one  to  convince. 
While  assembling  an  abundance  of  good  cheer,  smoking  and 
friendly  conversation  prevailed,  but  the  moment  the  gavel 
sounded  all  was  attention  and  order,  which  usually  continued 


24o  UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA 

throughout  the  exercises.  Seldom  was  there  needless  talking 
or  whispering,  as  every  one  seemed  intent  upon  developed  ar- 
guments and  expected  witticisms,  ever  ready  to  punctuate  by 
foot  and  hand  demonstrations — such  as  most  speakers  expect 
and  feel  disappointed  when  suppressed.  The  kindest  feeling 
prevailed  between  the  two  societies,  and  as  no  rivalry  existed 
there  was  much  reciprocal  visiting,  according  to  the  prefer- 
ence of  program  and  fancy  for  those  taking  part.  Conferences 
between  representative  members  were  held  often,  looking  to 
the  betterment  of  the  organizations,  and  the  adoption  by  one 
of  any  good  measure  was  certain  of  being  followed  by  the 
other.  Although  the  law  students  were  in  most  evidence  as 
speakers,  yet  other  departments  furnished  quite  a  number, 
who  did  not  suffer  by  comparison.  All  things  considered,  the 
general  work  in  these  societies  was  of  high  order,  serving 
well  to  develop  minds  in  the  polemic  direction.  I  am  confident 
we  all  look  back  upon  this  affiliation  with  no  little  pleasure — 
considering  it  a  feature  in  University  life  and  training  highly 
necessary  if  not  absolutely  essential. 

This  was  my  longest  time  and  distance  from  home,  and  a 
visit  thereto  with  the  approach  of  Christmas  seemed  a  fore- 
gone conclusion,  in  spite  of  having  only  the  one  day  holiday 
and  otherwise  lectures  pushing  along  at  their  usual  rapid 
pace.  As  there  was  no  way  of  getting  full  value  of  these 
save  by  attendance,  the  missing  of  a  week  or  more  meant  al- 
most an  irreparable  loss — a  fact  sadly  recognized  and  pre- 
venting extreme  enthusiasm  over  such  an  alloyed  vacation. 
The  only  palliation  possible  lay  in  borrowing  upon  our  return 
the  note  books  of  others  containing  leading  essentials  but  not 
the  endless  detail  so  important  for  perfect  understanding — 
such  as  most  individuals  trust  the  mind  to  carry.  Indeed, 
the  Faculty  disapproved  home-going  at  this  season,  or  any 
other,  owing  to  the  likely  discouragement  from  once  getting 
behind  and  the  usual  demoralization  an  interregnum  tends  to 
create,  but  upon  application  the  Chairman  of  the  Faculty 
would  issue  to  any  one  for  a  reasonable  time  a  "  leave  of 
absence"  of  the  following  form:  University  of  Va.,  Dec. 
19,  1872.  We  concur  in  the  application  of  Mr.  David  M.  R. 
Culbreth  for  a  leave  of  absence  of  two  weeks.  Report  your 
return  promptly  to  the  Chairman,  Chas.  S.  Venable,  Chair. 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  241 

When  you  secured  to  this  the  signature  of  the  various  profes- 
sors by  whom  instructed,  you  were  beyond  the  University  re- 
strictions for  the  specified  time.  Beginning  with  this  permit 
I  take  from  my  diary  a  few  abstracts: 

December  19,  1872.  Left  University  for  home  to-night, 
6.30  o'ck. ;  reached  Central  Hotel  at  7.10,  where  I  sat  in 
the  office  by  a  hot  coal  stove  until  8.45,  when  a  servant  showed 
me  to  room  No.  48,  which  I  found  without  fire  and  very  cold. 
Lost  some  time  in  getting  to  sleep,  possibly  from  anxiety  of 
trip,  missing  train,  etc.  Was  called  at  1.20  A.  M.,  but  train 
being  late  did  not  leave  until  2.10.  Rained  and  snowed  nearly 
all  the  way,  while  between  Fairfax  and  Manassas  our  train 
killed  several  cattle  causing  us  to  stop,  as  one  of  the  animals 
became  mangled  in  the  engine.  Had  quite  a  talk  with  the 
conductor,  etc. 

December  2oth.  Reached  Alexandria  at  7.25  A.  M.,  but  left 
ten  minutes  later  for  Washington  where  we  arrived  at  8. 
Had  a  buss  transfer  ticket  from  the  Baltimore  and  Potomac 
depot  to  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio,  where  I  took  an  express 
that  reached  Baltimore  at  9.30.  Found  the  streets  very  sloppy 
and  muddy,  but  walked  up  to  Uncle's  alone,  etc. 

December  2ist.  Left  Baltimore,  President  Street  station, 
for  home  at  7.25  A.  M.  After  watching  the  boats  moving  in 
and  out  of  the  harbor  and  river  I  looked  over  The  (Baltimore) 
Sun,  and  within  the  hour  observed  Judge  Wickes  sitting  alone 
a  few  seats  to  the  rear,  whom  I  joined  and  engaged  in  con- 
versation. He  was  anxious  about  his  son's  progress,  so  I 
emphasized  his  popularity  and  the  belief  of  him  doing  good 
work;  that  I  knew  he  was  gaining  knowledge  of  his  studies 
and  an  experience  with  the  world.  Well,  he  said :  "  '  Chamb  ' 
is  spending  too  much  money."  Many  students  on  the  train 
going  home  for  the  holidays.  Father  met  me  at  the  station, 
3.35  P.  M.,  etc. 

December  25th.  The  past  few  days  have  been  spent  quietly 
at  home  conversing  with  parents  and  friends  who  called.  To- 
day we  had  a  "family  reunion  at  grandmother's,  where  all  of 
her  six  children  and  most  of  her  grandchildren  were  gath- 
ered. All  had  a  royal  time. 

December  29th.  To-day  the  family  reunion  was  at  our 
house,  where  all  members  assembled  except  grandmother, 


242  UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA 

who,  owing  to  cough,  never  goes  from  home  during  winter 
months  (October- April).  The  day  was  pleasant  and  all  ap- 
peared to  enjoy  themselves.  We  spend  to-morrow  at  Uncle 
Edward's. 

January  i,  1873.  To-day  is  Wednesday  and  how  beautiful 
for  winter!  Took  train  at  10.15  A.  M.  for  Baltimore,  on  my 
return  to  the  University.  Left  the  car  several  times  to  recog- 
nize familiar  faces  at  stations.  Had  a  long  wait  at  Clayton, 
11.30-1.55,  so  did  not  reach  Baltimore  until  8.30.  Went  at 
once  to  Uncle's. 

January  3rd.  Left  Baltimore  at  2  p.  M.,  reached  Wash- 
ington at  4,  took  supper  at  the  St.  James  Hotel  in  time  to  catch 
the  6.55  train  from  Baltimore  and  Potomac  depot  for  Char- 
lottesville,  where  I  arrived  at  12.40,  and  at  my  room  three- 
quarters  of  an  hour  later,  where  I  retired  a  few  minutes  there- 
after much  fatigued  and  sleepy. 

January  4th.  Arose  at  7  o'ck.,  breakfasted  at  7.30,  reported 
to  Latin  and  Natural  Philosophy ;  was  even  called  upon  in  the 
latter  and  only  avoided  a  "  cork  "  by  the  prompting  of  Peteet, 
who  caused  me  to  acquit  myself  with  considerable  credit. 
Green  and  LeBourgeois  dropped  in  a  short  while  after  supper. 
I  wrote  Latin  exercise  and  retired  at  10.30. 

January  6th.  This  is  Sunday  so  did  not  arise  until  7.40; 
breakfasted  at  8,  which  was  enjoyed  to  an  unusual  degree 
owing  to  its  very  satisfactory  quality.  Rained  nearly  all  day 
and  have  spent  most  of  it  on  Math. 

January  Qth.  Reported  at  Latin,  8.50,  was  called  upon  with 
good  results. 

January  I2th.  Breakfasted  at  7.25 ;  spent  morning  in  read- 
ing Latin  parallel. 

January  I5th.  This  is  Monday,  cold  and  bleak;  spent  most 
of  the  day  on  Math.  In  going  to  lecture  met  Professor  Ven- 
able,  so  we  chatted  pleasantly  on  our  way  to  the  Rotunda; 
found  lecture-room  very  hot  which  made  my  feet  almost  burn 
up  in  rubber  boots — no  good  in  winter. 

January  I7th.  Friday — arose  at  6.35,  breakfasted  at  7, 
studied  Math,  and  mineralogy  all  morning;  had  "boss"  for 
dinner;  reported  to  Math,  at  3.30. 

January  2ist.  Tuesday — reported  to  Latin  at  12.30;  had 
"boss"  for  dinner;  Dr.  Witherspoon  called  on  us  during 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  243 

the  afternoon ;  read  Latin  parallel  and  worked  out  exercises  in 
Math,  until  2. 

January  24th.  Monday — breakfasted  at  7 ;  went  to  Math.- 
drill  at  8,  came  to  room  and  studied  Math,  until  dinner. 

January  26th.  Sunday — breakfasted  at  7.10;  had  buck- 
wheat, sausage,  hash,  etc.  Spent  a  part  of  the  morning  with 
many  companions  sliding  down  the  hill  just  beyond  the  par- 
sonage— used  our  split-bottom  chairs  for  sleds,  to  which  it 
was  death,  but  all  had  much  enjoyment.  Wrote  to  mother; 
studied  some. 

January  28th.  Tuesday — reported  to  Latin  at  12.30,  but 
a  note  pinned  on  the  door  called  lecture  off,  owing  to  sickness 
of  Professor  Peters. 

January  29th.  Wednesday — arose  at  7,  breakfasted  at  7.10 ; 
reported  to  Math.-drill  at  8 ;  read  Latin  parallel  from  i  to  2 ; 
while  writing  this  the  first  bell  has  rung,  it  will  soon  be  time 
for  the  second. 

February  2nd.  Sunday — breakfasted  at  7 ;  spent  the  day  in 
reading  Latin  parallel,  writing  mother,  and  attending  chapel 
at  night ;  returned  thereafter  to  room,  9  o'ck.,  and  worked  on 
Math,  until  11.30. 

February  9th.  Sunday — breakfasted  at  7.10;  read  Latin 
parallel;  left  for  my  second  trip  to  Monticello  at  12;  took 
dinner  at  Ambroselli's,  reached  the  summit  at  3 ;  cut  our- 
selves some  hickory  sticks. 

February  loth.  Monday — arose  at  6.45,  breakfasted  at  7; 
reported  to  Math,  at  3.30;  studied  Latin  after  supper,  and 
wrote  up  geology  notes. 

February  i8th.  Tuesday — arose  at  6.40,  breakfasted  at  7.10; 
reported  to  Latin  in  the  morning,  and  played  baseball  in  the 
afternoon. 

February  2ist.  Friday — breakfasted  at  7.10;  reported  to 
Math.-drill  at  8,  and  geology  at  12.30;  was  called  on  in  Math, 
and  got  through  all  right. 

February  22nd.  Saturday — arose  at  7,  breakfasted  at  7.30 ; 
reported  to  Latin  at  9  and  to  Natural  Philosophy  at  1 1 ;  at- 
tended Jeff.  Society  at  night,  but  got  back  to  my  room  at 
10.30. 

February  23rd.  Sunday — arose  at  6.30,  breakfasted  at  7; 
attended  church  in  Charlottesville,  10  to  i. 


244  UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA 

March  ist.  Saturday — breakfasted  at  7;  reported  to  Latin 
at  9  and  to  Natural  Philosophy  at  n,  but  there  was  no  lec- 
ture in  the  latter  owing  to  sickness  of  Professor  Smith;  at- 
tended Jeff.  Society  at  night;  retired  at  11.30. 

But  enough  of  these  youthful  excerpts  that  have  little  spice 
and  variety,  since  days,  weeks,  nay  years,  were  almost  dupli- 
cates of  one  another,  so  that  the  chronicling  was  largely  re- 
iteration. 

Near  the  first  of  April  the  University  and  Charlottesville 
communities  were  saddened  by  the  sickness  of  Professor  Mc- 
Guffey  which,  after  various  stages  of  hope  and  despair,  ended 
in  death  on  May  4th.  He  was  our  oldest  professor,  whom  all 
students  loved,  and  followed  to  the  grave  with  a  sorrow  kin- 
dred to  paternalism. 

About  the  close  of  my  first  week  at  the  University  a  young 
medical  student,  Pierce,  who  occupied  alone  the  upper  north- 
west room,  House  B,  suggested  that  I  move  in  with  him  as  he 
believed  a  companionship  would  be  beneficial  to  us  both,  while 
the  elevation  of  his  room  had  an  advantage  over  mine.  We 
mutually  agreed  the  change  advisable,  so  passed  the  session 
together  satisfactorily,  in  spite  of  our  departments  possessing 
little  in  common  and  his  necessitating  often  a  dwelling  with 
unclean  bones  and  desiccated  muscles  of  the  recent  dead.  He 
like  myself  had  been  reared  in  the  country  by  good,  industrious 
parents,  and  fortunately  shared  equally  with  me  quiet,  studious 
habits.  We  confided  not  a  few  of  our  family  matters,  yet  for 
want  of  time  seldom  discussed  them.  Our  tastes  were  plain, 
simple,  clean  and  moral,  so  there  was  little  to  produce  friction 
and  discord.  Beyond  the  care  of  our  room  by  the  attendant 
a  few  minor  duties  fell  to  our  lot,  performed  in  turn  alternately 
according  to  understanding,  among  them — going  to  the  post- 
office  daily  at  3  o'ck,  for  the  mail.  On  one  of  my  mail  days  I 
brought  him  a  letter  from  home,  which  conveyed  the  pleasant 
information  that  on  a  certain  day  and  train  in  the  near  future 
a  couple  of  friends  would  pass  through  Charlottesville  by  the 
Chesapeake  and  Ohio  Railroad,  en  route  for  some  point  west, 
and  that  they  would  be  pleased  to  have  him  meet  them  at  the 
depot  for  a  few  minutes'  conversation.  He  seemed  gratified 
at  the  opportunity  and  gladly  made  good  the  appointment, 
but  in  order  that  the  agreeable  talk  and  companionship  might 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  245 

be  prolonged  determined  to  remain  on  the  train  while  it  pulled 
through  the  town  and  by  the  junction  jumping  off  when  he 
'  reached  the  University  crossing,  then  at  the  same  grade  as  the 
public  road.  By  most  of  us  this  was  considered  a  dangerous 
experiment,  although  the  train's  speed  seldom  exceeded  at 
that  point  twenty  miles  per  hour — usually  less — yet  the  curv- 
ing grade,  road  bed  and  shallow  cuts  rilled  with  various-sized 
loose  and  fixed  rocks,  made  leaping  with  the  train's  motion 
in  expectation  of  landing  on  one's  feet,  thence  for  a  rapid 
run,  likely  to  be  disappointing.  At  home  where  the  road-sides 
were  soft  and  rockless  I  had  performed  the  act  many  times 
successfully,  where  even  a  fall  meant  little  or  nothing,  but 
under  such  changed  conditions  would  never  have  had  the  cour- 
age to  attempt  it.  As  a  vivid  warning  against  liberty  with 
moving  trains  all  of  us  students  had  fresh  in  mind  the  sad  fate 
of  Arthur  L.  Coleman,  a  gifted  and  accomplished  student  of 
the  two  preceding  sessions,  who  just  a  year  before,  April  13, 
1872,  was  mangled  to  death  near  the  same  spot.  Up  to  that 
occurrence  the  Chesapeake  and  Ohio  passenger  trains  made  a 
short  stop  at  this  crossing,  a  convenience  appreciated  by  the 
University  community,  but  abused  by  some  who  continually 
rode  to  and  from  town,  passing  through  the  coaches  in  hope  of 
seeing  some  friend  or  acquaintance  and  often  delaying  exit 
until  the  train  was  well  under  way.  Following  this  custom 
young  Coleman  in  hastening  to  get  off  missed  his  grip  on  the 
railing  and  fell  between  the  cars  to  his  destruction.  He  was 
buried  in  Hollywood  Cemetery,  Richmond,  and  to  his  memory 
admiring  fellow  students  of  the  University  erected  during  my 
first  month,  October,  1872,  an  appropriate  monument.  All  of 
these  facts  came  before  our  eyes  from  time  to  time,  especially 
through  various  issues  of  the  Magazine,  subscribed  to  and 
read  carefully  by  most  of  us.  Regardless  of  these  lessons  my 
roommate  considered  himself  on  this  occasion  equal  to  the 
acrobatic  feat  without  serious  harm,  but  upon  trial  found  sadly 
his  mistake,  as  at  once  he  was  taken  off  his  feet  and  thrown 
violently  to  the  earth  against  a  boldly  protruding  rock,  in- 
flicting an  ugly  hip  laceration  and  several  minor  wounds, 
which  rendered  him  helpless  and  semi-unconscious  for  a  time. 
Within  an  hour  he  was  conveyed  on  a  stretcher  to  the  Infirm- 
ary, where  Doctors  Cabell  and  Davis  made  careful  examina- 


246  UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA 

tion,  hesitating  to  give  much  encouragement  owing  to  the 
supposed  serious  possibilities  at  the  hip.  Fortunately  no  com- 
plications arose,  so  that  in  four  weeks  he  could  hobble  around 
on  crutches,  but  concluded  to  do  no  more  studying  that  ses- 
sion and  left  for  home  two  weeks  before  its  close.  During  his 
stay  at  the  Infirmary  I  paid  him  almost  daily  visits,  ministered 
to.  his  wants  as  best  I  could,  and  for  the  first  ten  days,  so  long 
as  he  was  restricted  to  the  recumbent  position,  attended  to  his 
correspondence  with  his  parents  and  friends. 

Towards  the  middle  of  June,  owing  to  the  severe  heat  and 
a  disinclination  to  study,  many  were  found  turning  faces  home- 
ward, thinking  the  attendance  upon  Commencement  played  no 
part  in  the  duties  and  pleasures  of  the  year — that  from  which 
I  dissented,  believing  that  the  final  week's  exercises,  coming  at 
the  conclusion  of  the  year's  hard  work,  could  not  be  otherwise 
than  beneficial,  restful  and  enjoyable.  In  addition  to  the 
goodly  number  of  distinguished  visitors,  alumni,  friends,  par- 
ents and  relatives  of  the  graduates,  from  near  and  far,  with 
some  of  whom  contact  was  unavoidable,  there  was  delivered 
two  addresses  by  men  of  national  reputation  and  about  six  by 
as  many  of  our  best  trained  students.  To  listen  to  these  re- 
lieved and  refreshed  by  strains  of  sweet  music,  the  compan- 
ionship, conversation  and  laughter  of  fairer  saints,  always  so 
much  in  evidence,  could  not  fail  to  make  the  few  included 
days  far  from  stupid — in  fact  highly  inspiring — therefore, 
during  my  entire  University  residence  I  never  missed  one  of 
these  functions,  even  remaining  to  see  the  "  Final  Ball  "  well 
under  way  and  sometimes  ended.  Apart  from  this  personal 
inclination  there  were  two  specific  reasons  that  well-nigh  im- 
pelled my  stay  at  this,  my  first,  Commencement — that  of  my 
distinguished  fellow-stateman,  Hon.  Thomas  F.  Bayard, 
being  the  joint  orator  before  the  two  Literary  Societies,  and 
that  of  me  being  on  the  Final  Committee  of  the  Jeff. — a  posi- 
tion it  is  true  more  honorary  than  active  since  the  Chairman, 
as  in  all  cases,  personally  looked  after  most  of  the  detail  ar- 
rangement, but  after  all  carried  some  duties  if  one  cared  to  live 
up  to  and  discharge  them.  Owing  to  Mr.  Bayard's  high  char- 
acter, eminent  position  and  service  already  rendered  the  South, 
as  well  as  that  about  to  be  performed  for  us,  I,  the  only 
student  from  Delaware,  had  been  the  recipient  during  the 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  247 

session  of  no  little  favorable  notice  from  companions,  who,  I 
felt  confident  would  have,  at  least,  been  surprised  had  I  not 
remained  to  be  one  of  those  to  receive  him. 

Commencement  or  Final  Day  then  was  the  Thursday  before 
July  4th,  which  fell  that  year,  1873,  on  the  3rd,  but  the  week's 
exercises  began  the  preceding  Sunday  night,  June  29th,  with 
a  sermon  in  the  Public  Hall  before  the  Young  Men's  Chris- 
tian Association  by  Rev.  J.  William  Jones.  It  was  the  first 
time  I  had  heard  that  gentleman,  so  that  his  well-worded  sen- 
tences, profound  earnestness,  and  rather  high,  penetrating 
voice  made  upon  me  a  strong  and  lasting  impression  on,  "  The 
Blessedness  of  Religion." 

Monday  night — Wash  Celebration.  Unfortunately  in  the 
late  afternoon  a  thunderstorm  made  the  outlook  unfavorable 
for  a  large  attendance,  but  in  spite  of  no  signs  of  clearing  until 
after  7  o'ck,  the  Public  Hall  by  that  hour  was  filled  comfort- 
ably with  the  younger  life  that  seemed  fearless  before  the  ele- 
ments and  determined  to  make  the  evening  a  success.  The 
officers  this  year  were:  President,  Mr.  Richard  H.  Maury, 
Miss.;  Orator,  Mr.  John  W.  Stephenson,  Va.  (subject — Na- 
tional Literature)  ;  Medalist,  Mr.  Fergus  R.  Graham,  La.  After 
these  gentlemen  had  discoursed  to  their  full  credit  and  Weber's 
Germania  Band  had  rendered  appropriate  selections,  the  as- 
semblage according  to  honored  custom  repaired  to  the  Lawn 
beautifully  illuminated  with  hundreds  of  gas-jets  and  Chinese 
lanterns,  under  whose  mellow  light  were  to  be  enjoyed  for  a 
couple  of  hours  a  continuous  promenading  of  the  arcades  and 
triangle,  stirring  strains  of  music,  pleasant  conversation  and 
short  calls  at  the  homes  of  the  several  professors  who  were 
entertaining. 

Tuesday  night — Jeff.  Celebration.  This  was  clear  and  beau- 
tiful, and  during  the  heated  day  many  visitors  arrived  includ- 
ing Senator  Bayard,  Ex-Governor  Swann,  Governor  Walker 
and  Lieutenant-Governor  Marye,  whose  son,  Willie,  was  one 
of  our  popular  students.  While  the  evening  before  I  had  been 
simply  an  interested  spectator,  on  this  it  was  very  different,  as 
my  committee  membership  placed  me  here  in  the  role  of  a  mar- 
shal, with  the  implied  expectation  of  solving  properly  the  an- 
noyances and  perplexities  of  the  many  late  comers  insisting 
upon,  sometimes  demanding,  seats  well  towards  the  front. 
Another  member  and  I  took  charge  of  the  left-hand  (west) 


248  UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA 

aisle,  and  were  happy  in  offending  none  knowingly  and  in 
the  manifest  appreciation  by  the  fair  ones  of  our  proffered 
gallantry.  The  Public  Hall  was  soon  overcrowded  with  an 
anxious  and  restless  audience  awaiting  the  coming  of  the 
stage-lore,  which  in  procession,  two  by  two,  at  8.30  o'ck,  began 
to  enter  with  rhythmic  step  to  the  martial  music,  in  the  order 
of  the  Board  of  Visitors,  Faculty,  distinguished  visitors,  offi- 
cers of  the  two  societies,  orators  and  medalists  escorted  by 
the  marshals  and  passing  up  the  center-aisle  under  the  arched 
batons  of  the  chief  marshals  to  occupy  the  stage. 

The  officers  this  year  were:  President,  Mr.  B.  Chambers 
Wickes,  Md. ;  Orator,  Mr.  William  R.  Alexander,  Va.  (subject 
— What  has  been  belongs  not  alone  to  the  past)  ;  Medalist,  Mr- 
John  Sharp  Williams,  Tenn. 

The  President's  style  was  a  trifle  hurried  and  bold,  his 
enunciation  clear  and  matter  well  in  mind.  The  Medalist,  at 
all  times  a  quick  somewhat  nervous  speaker  and  conversation- 
alist, endeavored  in  no  appreciable  degree  to  have  freedom 
therefrom  on  that  occasion,  but  this  was  no  weakness  as  it 
stamped  individuality  and  the  fire  of  true  oratory,  so  that 
with  his  closing  declaration — he  would  prize  the  medal  not  for 
what  it  is  but  for  what  it  teaches — rounds  of  applause  testified 
to  universal  approbation.  The  writer  has  not  seen  Mr.  Wil- 
liams since  those  commencement  days,  although  in  full  knowl- 
edge of  his  attained  honors  and  positions,  and  while  testifying 
with  much  delight  to  his  earlier  recognized  powers,  it  has  been 
a  far  greater  pleasure  to  see  his  words  a  "  living  truth  " — the 
medal  standing  for  what  it  teaches.  For  he  has  gone  forth 
from  that  youthful  stage  to  the  highest  forum  of  our  land 
to  defend  humane  rights  as  he  conceives  them,  to  take  the 
side  of  the  plain  people,  as  did  the  illustrious  Jefferson  in  whose 
school  he  was  taught,  and,  like  him,  to  implant  his  name  upon 
the  "  Temple  of  Fame."  During  the  day  I  saw  not  a  little  of 
the  orator,  who,  while  walking  together,  lamented  his  legal 
studies  having  prevented  a  mastery  of  his  oration,  that  which 
evinced  itself  at  several  points  in  the  delivery,  but  not  sufficient 
to  provoke  merited  criticism.  The  following  newspaper  clip- 
ping at  the  time  will  not  offend  or  reflect  owing  to  its  ludicrous 
witticism:  "His  address  was  well  written,  his  manner  good, 
and  was  listened  to  by  those  who  could  hear  him.  The  fair 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  249 

ladies  listened  with  rapt  attention,  and  drank  in  every  word 
spoken  by — their  gallant  escorts.  Instead  of  a  thousand  fair 
and  lovely  maidens  *  hanging  entrance  on  the  lips  of  one  ora- 
tor/ they  hung  entrance  on  the  lips  of  a  thousand  orators — 
every  orator  had  an  auditor  and  every  auditor  an  orator.  The 
speaker  was  interrupted  frequently,  not  only  by  the  applause 
from  the  galleries,  but  also  by  the  entrance  of  tardy  belles  and 
beaux,  the  rustling  of  dresses,  the  tramp  of  polite  marshals 
eager  to  show  seats  to  the  blushing  late-comers,  and  lastly  by 
the  merry  hum  of  the  audience.  Under  these  circumstances, 
what  youthful  orator  '  with  soul  so  dead '  who  would  not  feel 
inspired  to  soar  to  the  loftiest  heights  of  impassioned  elo- 
quence ?  " 


CHAPTER    XIII 

COMMENCEMENT — ADDRESSES  AND  BANQUET — SESSION 

1872-73. 

Commencement  of  1873  continued;  memorial  address  on  Professor  Gess- 
ner  Harrison,  by  Rev.  John  A.  Broadus;  Joint  Celebration— Hon. 
Thomas  F.  Bayard;  Commencement  or  Final  Day — alumni  address 
by  Ex-Governor  Thomas  Swann;  alumni  banquet — to  which  a  few  of 
us  students  were  invited  to  enjoy  the  good  things  and  speeches;  es- 
corted two  of  the  honored  guests,  Senator  Bayard  and  Ex-Governor 
Swann,  to  Professor  Venable's  home ;  death  and  funeral  of  Mr.  Swann, 
etc. 

WEDNESDAY  was  beautiful,  clear  and  hot,  but  its  diversified 
entertainments  served  to  veil  all  personal  discomfort.  In  the 
morning,  1 1  o'ck,  we  met  in  the  Public  Hall  to  hear  a  memo- 
rial address  on  our  late  Professor  Gessner  Harrison,  by  Rev. 
John  A.  Broadus.  Up  to  that  day  I  knew  little  of  Professor 
Harrison  except  through  his  Latin  Grammar — An  Exposition 
of  Some  of  the  Laws  of  the  Latin  Grammar,  Harper  Brothers, 
1852 — a  work  of  which  Professor  Peters  had  spoken  several 
times  in  class  with  a  commendation  that  led  me  to  purchase 
and  use  a  copy  with  decided  benefit.  I  further  knew  that  Pro- 
fessor Smith's  wife  was  a  daughter,  and  had  seen  around  the 
University  another  daughter,  Miss  Harrison,  afterwards  the 
wife  of  Professor  Thornton,  and  a  son  whom  I  thought  about 
thirty  years  of  age. 

On  this  occasion  the  portrait  of  Professor  Harrison,  be- 
longing in  the  library,  was  suspended  over  the  stage  amid 
evergreens  and  flowers;  the  stage  was  filled  with  professors 
and  visiting  dignitaries,  and  the  main  floor  with  an  attentive, 
intelligent  audience.  After  prayer  by  our  new  Chaplain,  Rev. 
Samuel  A.  Steel,  the  Hon.  B.  Johnson  Barbour,  a  short  and 
rather  compactly  built  gentleman  of  about  sixty,  then  President 
of  the  Alumni  Society,  arose  and  in  a  deliberate  -conversa- 
tional style  said :  "  The  Alumni  are  to  honor  themselves  in 
honoring  a  great  and  good  man — great  in  the  fullness  of  his 
knowledge  and  good  in  all  that  constitutes  the  true  Christian 

250 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  251 

gentleman.  At  the  request'  of  the  Alumni,  their  honored 
brother  has  come  with  full  knowledge  and  filial  love  to  tell  the 
story  of  his  noble  life.  I  take  pleasure  in  introducing  Rev. 
John  A.  Broadus,  of  the  Southern  Baptist  Theological  Sem- 
inary." 

I  had  never  seen  or  heard  Dr.  Broadus  before,  but  later  had 
the  good  fortune  to  attend  several  sermons  and  lectures,  and  to 
meet  him  socially.  On  that  day  he  appeared  about  forty-five 
years  of  age,  five  feet  eight  inches  high,  and  to  weigh  one 
hundred  and  fifty  pounds.  He  had  a  fine  suit  of  black  hair 
parted  well  to  the  left  and  worn  a  trifle  long,  short  chin  and 
side  whiskers  of  similar  shade  slightly  sprinkled  with  gray — 
no  moustache;  his  forehead  was  broad  and  full,  but  not  high, 
which  inclined  to  give  the  square  upper  face;  nose  shapely, 
well-proportioned  with  full  apex ;  mouth  and  lips  of  good  size, 
the  latter  when  closed  indicating  firmness,  resolution  and  posi- 
tiveness;  voice  clear,  sonorous,  of  abundant  volume  and 
depth,  easily  filling  the  remotest  part  of  the  Hall.  His  dress 
was  of  the  provincial  black  broad-cloth,  coat-skirt  closed  in 
front  and  of  moderate  length;  turned-down  collar  and  small 
black  cravat  hand  tied.  He  arose  without  hestitation  and  was 
absolutely  at  ease  in  reading  his  manuscript  in  a  serious  style 
for  more  than  an  hour.  To  me  there  was  something  pleasant, 
yet  sad,  in  his  face — even  his  voice  and  every  slight  gesture, 
for  these  were  few,  seemed  to  carry  an  element  of  pathos  and 
seriousness,  a  deep  feeling  for  the  personality  under  consider- 
ation. I  recognized  from  the  start  that  it  was  no  ordinary 
man  speaking  or  being  spoken  of,  so  quietly  sat  near  the  front 
to  imbibe  the  beautifully  expressed  thoughts.  Mr.  Bayard, 
who  sat  upon  the  stage  in  my  easy  view,  pronounced  it  the 
finest  panegyric  to  which  he  had  ever  listened,  and  I  a  youth 
was  made  almost  to  realize  that  Gessner  Harrison  had  been  a 
part  of  and  inseparable  from  my  own  life. 

I  shall  never  forget  how  realistic  he  portrayed  in  smooth, 
rounded  sentences  the  outer  and  inner  life  of  his  great  teacher 
— one  of  the  three  first  medical  graduates  of  the  University 
(1827),  who,  in  addition  to  and  coexistent  with  his  profes- 
sional studies,  pursued  and  mastered  Latin  and  Greek  to  such 
a  phenomenal  degree  under  that  great  scholar  George  Long — 
the  University's  first  professor  of  Ancient  Languages — as  to 


252  UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA 

be  considered  by  him,  when  recalled  to  England  for  the  pro- 
fessorship of  Greek  in  the  University  of  London,  his  only 
worthy  and  suitable  successor — a  preference  when  conveyed 
to  the  Board  of  Visitors  that  found  a  speedy  and  favorable 
recognition.  Nor  can  I  pass  out  of  memory  the  vivid  descrip- 
tion of  that  great  man's  kind  and  gentle  nature,  gifted  intellect, 
scholarly  attainments,  generous  impulses,  self-sacrificing  char- 
acter— his  life  mainly  for  others,  his  death  for  another,  his  un- 
stinted endeavors  for  the  stimulation  of  thorough  scholarship, 
his  very  blood  for  bettering  the  University  he  so  loved  and 
cherished  during  the  thirty  or  more  years  of  active  and  con- 
tinued service,  in  much  of  which  he  discharged  so  satisfactorily 
the  additional  and  onerous  duties  of  Chairman.  Who  of  those 
present  can  fail  to  recall  portions  of  that  masterly  effort? 

He  fell  amid  the  storm  of  war.  Three  years  earlier  and 
the  death  of  Gessner  Harrison  would  have  stirred  the  whole 
South  but  he  fell  almost  as  unnoticed  as  falls  a  single  drop  into 
the  stormy  sea.  To  this  day  it  is  sometimes  asked  by  intelli- 
gent men  where  the  famous  professor  is,  and  what  he  is  doing. 
Already  when  he  died  the  hearts  of  men  were  becoming  filled 
with  the  love  of  our  great  military  leaders,  that  love  which 
afterwards  grew  into  an  absorbing  passion — inter  arma  silent 
litter ae.  And  so  it  is  likely  that  the  young  of  to-day  can 
scarcely  believe,  the  old  cannot  without  difficulty  recall,  how 
widely  known,  how  highly  honored  and  admired,  how  warmly 
loved,  was  the  mere  civilian,  the  quiet  and  unpretending  Pro- 
fessor of  1859.  It  is  surely  worth  while,  then,  not  only  out  of 
respect  for  his  honored  memory,  but  for  our  own  sake,  and  for 
sweet  learning's  sake,  that  we  should  spend  an  hour  here,  so 
near  to  his  old  lecture-room,  to  his  home,  and  his  grave,  in 
reminding  ourselves  and  telling  to  all  whom  our  voices  can 
reach  what  a  man  he  was,  and  what  a  work  he  performed  .  .  . 

There  was  nothing  very  striking  in  the  appearance  of  young 
Gessner  Harrison  when  he  came  to  the  University.  He  was 
rather  below  the  middle  height,  with  a  low  forehead,  and  a  head 
whose  general  shape  was  quite  an  exception  to  the  rules  of 
Phrenology;  his  lips  were  too  full  for  beauty,  and  the  face 
altogether  was  homely,  with  one  exception — his  dark  eyes  were 
sincerely  beautiful  and  expressive.  In  truth,  that  eye  would 
express,  all  unconsciously  to  him,  not  only  meditation,  but 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  253 

every  phase  of  feeling ;  and,  as  the  years  went  on,  it  seemed  to 
a  close  observer  to  hide,  in  its  quiet  depths,  all  he  had  thought, 
all  he  had  suffered,  all  he  had  become — the  whole  world  of  his 
inner  life.  Those  fine  eyes,  which  were,  no  doubt,  a  little 
downcast  when  he  first  diffidently  met  the  Professors,  with 
the  ruddy  cheeks  which  had  pleased  the  school-girls,  and  a  voice 
most  of  whose  tones  were  quite  pleasing  and  some  of  them 
exceedingly  sweet,  made  no  small  amends  for  his  general 
homeliness.  .  .  . 

Gessner  Harrison  and  his  brother  would  neither  visit  or 
study  on  Sunday,  so  when,  in  alphabetic  sequence,  they  re- 
ceived from  Mr.  Jefferson  their  invitation  to  dine  with  him  on 
a  certain  Sabbath,  they  wrote  declining  the  honor,  with  full  ex- 
planation of  their  strict  training  and  a  hesitation  to  displease 
their  father.  At  this  instance  of  filial  piety  Mr.  Jefferson,  in 
a  note  to  them,  expressed  much  gratification,  and  insisted  that 
they  come  on  a  certain  week-day.  They  went,  were  received 
with  singular  courtesy  and  spent  hours  of  great  enjoyment, 
being,  as  the  Faculty,  in  a  tribute  to  Mr.  Jefferson's  memory 
the  following  year,  said  had  often  been  true  of  themselves — 
instructed  and  delighted  by  the  rare  and  versatile  powers  of 
that  intellect  which  time  had  enriched  with  facts  without  de- 
tracting from  its  luster,  and  charmed  with  those  irresistible 
manners  which  were  dictated  by  delicacy  and  benevolence.  .  .  . 

There  is  something  sublime  in  the  spectacle  of  an  unpre- 
tending, quiet,  but  deeply  earnest  and  conscientious  man, 
with  the  classical  education  of  a  great  commonwealth  or  of 
the  whole  States,  resting  upon  him,  and  slowly  lifting  up 
himself  and  his  burden  towards  what  they  are  capable  of  reach- 
ing. It  was  thus  that  Gessner  Harrison  toiled  and  suffered  in 
this  University  for  thirty-one  years.  And  not  in  vain.  Dur- 
ing the  latter  years  of  this  period,  he  was  accustomed  to  say 
that  pupils  were  coming  to  him  from  the  leading  preparatory 
schools  with  a  better  knowledge  of  Latin  and  Greek  than 
twenty  years  or  so  before  was  carried  away  by  his  graduates. 
It  is  marvelous  to  our  older  men,  when  they  remember  how 
generally  and  in  how  high  a  degree  the  standard  of  education 
was  raised  in  Virginia  and  in  the  South,  between  1830  and 
1860.  Let  it  never  be  forgotten  that  the  University  of  Vir- 
ginia did  this;  and  there  is  no  invidious  comparison  in  saying 


254  UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA 

that,  far  beyond  any  other  man,  it  was  done  by  the  University 
Professor  of  Ancient  Languages.  His  two  scholarly  succes- 
sors have  often  remarked — we  hardly  know  how  we  could  get 
on  at  all  if  it  were  not  for  what  Dr.  Harrison  did  before 
us.  ... 

In  his  teaching  Dr.  Harrison  promptly  turned  away  from  the 
existing  English  methods  of  classical  instruction — viz.,  teach- 
ing the  mere  facts  of  Latin  or  Greek  usage  as  facts  and  strove 
after  the  rational  explanation  and  philosophical  systematiza- 
tion  of  these  facts.  Hence,  he  turned  with  lively  interest  to 
what  the  Germans  were  beginning  to  do — using  it  as  materials 
and  encouragement  for  his  own  laborious  studies.  He  had  al- 
ready been  several  years  at  work  when  the  modern  Science 
of  Language  had  its  birth  and  fully  recognized  that  one  had  to 
learn  Sanskrit  in  order  to  understand  and  explain  the  classic 
languages.  This  is  now  universal  among  respectable  profes- 
sors, but  for  years  and  years  it  was  applied  in  this  University 
alone  of  American  institutions.  In  fact,  he  was  pushing  these 
applications  when  they  were  still  unknown  in  the  teaching 
of  English  Universities,  and  existed  at  only  a  very  few  points 
in  Germany.  .  .  . 

It  may  be  added  that  as  a  lecturer,  Dr.  Harrison's  style, 
though  peculiar  and  having  obvious  faults  was  much  better 
than  in  writing.  He  had  not  a  ready  command  of  expression ; 
and  his  first  statements  of  an  idea  were  often  partial,  involved, 
and  obscure.  But  he  perfectly  knew — a  thing  not  very  com- 
mon— when  he  had  and  when  he  had  not,  made  himself  clear, 
and  never  relinquished  his  efforts  until  the  greater  part  of  his 
audience  saw  clearly.  He  made  constant  use  of  the  blackboard, 
often  drawing  quaint  diagrams  to  assist  the  comprehension 
of  the  abstractions  of  syntax  and  he  enlivened  attention  by 
frequent  and  apparently  spontaneous  gushes  of  homely  humor, 
as  racy  as  it  was  peculiar.  .  .  . 

For  nothing  was  he  more  remarkable  than  his  robust  com- 
mon sense — that  which  he  applied  not  merely  to  common 
things,  but  to  his  philological  studies.  The  inductive  method 
of  inquiry  means  common  sense,  as  opposed  to  mere  speculative 
theorizing,  and  he  studied  language  in  a  plain,  common-sense 
way.  Along  with  this  he  had  a  very  sound  judgment,  so  when 
he  thoroughly  understood  a  question  and  had  patiently  consid- 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  255 

ered  it,  his  judgment  was  exceedingly  apt  to  be  correct,  and  in 
this  those  who  knew  him  had  the  greatest  confidence.  His  ex- 
amination of  all  questions,  in  study  or  practical  life,  was 
marked  by  patient  thinking,  that  sublimest  of  intellectual  vir- 
tues ;  and  his  studies  were  all  conducted  with  the  steady  indus- 
try which  ought  to  be  so  common  but  is  so  rare,  which  is  the 
condition  of  accurate  scholarship  of  all  substantial  and  sym- 
metrical knowledge.  It  is  true  that  in  apparent  contrast  with 
these  qualities,  he  appeared  given  to  procrastination — due  to 
his  being  overworked.  He  possessed  great  coura'ge,  both  phy- 
sical and  moral,  and  was  as  unflinching  as  a  rock.  He  had  an 
unutterable  contempt  for  sham  and  pretentiousness,  and  him- 
self never  failed  to  speak  and  act  with  sincerity  and  candor.  He 
had  a  generosity  of  nature  in  the  broadest  sense,  and  that  beau- 
tiful delicacy  which  we  so  much  admire  in  women — delicate 
consideration  for  the  feelings  of  others,  and  delicate  tact  in 
sparing  their  feelings,  even  when  something  difficult  or  painful 
has  to  be  said.  His  family-relations  were  simply  charming. 
His  daughters — and  that  is  one  test  of  a  man's  character — 
regarded  him  not  with  mere  ordinary  filial  admiration  and 
affection,  but  with  unutterable  reverence,  and,  at  the  same  time, 
a  passionate  fondness.  His  sympathies  were  as  prompt  and 
as  tender  as  a  woman's,  and  from  him  all  friends  sought  coun- 
sel when  in  trouble  and  never  in  vain.  Nor  did  he  wait  to  be 
sought,  as  upon  a  newly  arrived  family  it  was  his  delight  to 
call  and  extend  pleasantries  of  conversation  as  well  as  material 
comfort.  A  foreigner  with  apparent  good  was  given  counte- 
nance, and  the  wounded  Union  soldiers,  brought  to  the  Uni- 
versity after  the  first  battle  of  Manassas,  were  visited  repeat- 
edly in  their  dormitories  by  him,  who,  although  then  only 
himself  a  visitor  there  and  intensely  Southern,  administered 
to  their  wounds  and  their  spiritual  good.  .  .  . 

With  such  abilities  and  attainments,  and  such  a  character, 
it  is  not  strange  that  Dr.  Harrison  so  powerfully  impressed 
himself  upon  his  pupils.  Not  only  the  hundreds  of  those  who 
are  now  professors  or  other  teachers,  but  many  who  are  occu- 
pied with  matters  widely  remote  from  Latin  and  Greek,  are 
still  constantly  recalling  his  favorite  ideas  and  characteristic 
expressions,  and,  what  is  of  more  consequence,  their  minds 
have  taken  shape  and  their  characters  borrowed  tone  from  its 


256  UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA 

influence.  In  every  grade  of  teaching  it  is  even  more  important 
to  consider  what  your  teacher  is  than  what  he  knows.  Two 
years  more  and  it  will  be  fifty  years  since  the  University  of 
Virginia  was  opened.  In  this  checkered  half-century  it  has 
achieved  results  which,  considering  all  the  difficulties  of  the 
situation,  form  a  just  occasion  for  wonder  and  rejoicing. 
A  truly  great  institution  of  learning  cannot  be  created  in  a 
short  time.  It  must  grow ;  must  gradually  form  its  atmosphere, 
gather  its  association,  hand  down  its  honored  names  and  in- 
spiring traditions.  The  life  we  have  been  considering  is,  per- 
haps, more  closely  connected  than  any  other  with  the  history 
of  this  University  and  the  constitution  of  its  prestige.  But 
Gessner  Harrison  is  only  one  of  the  many  noble  men  who  have 
spent  their  strength  in  advancing  its  usefulness  and  building 
up  its  reputation.  The  noblest  legacy  they  have  left  us  is  this 
— that  the  very  genius  of  the  place  is  work.  No  professor  or 
student  of  susceptible  soul  can  establish  himself  here  without 
feeling  that  there  breathes  through  all  the  air  this  spirit  of  work 
— a  noble  rage  for  knowing  and  for  teaching.  This  is  the  glory 
and  the  power  of  the  institution  which  boasts  so  many  illus- 
trious names  among  its  Visitors,  its  Faculty,  and  its  Alumni. 
And  let  it  be  the  last  word  spoken  here  to-day  concerning 
Gessner  Harrison,  spoken,  as  it  were,  in  his  name  to  the  pro- 
fessors and  the  students  of  the  University  he  loved  so  well 
— Sirs,  Brothers,  "  fear  God  and  work." 

Dr.  Broadus  married  for  his  first  wife  a  daughter  of  Gess- 
ner Harrison,  and,  therefore,  in  the  dual  relationship  of  pupil 
and  son-in-law  was  fitted  singularly,  perhaps,  beyond  all 
others,  for  correctly  unfolding  the  life  of  one  bound  by  such 
close  and  affectionate  ties.  His  admiration  and  reverence 
for  the  man  never  diminished,  in  fact  increased  with  years, 
and  when  he  came  to  dedicate  what  might  be  termed  his 
master  work — Commentary  on  Matthew — it  was  in  these 
words :  "  To  the  cherished  memory  of  Gessner  Harrison,  M.D., 
for  many  years  professor  of  Ancient  Languages  in  the  Uni- 
versity of  Virginia.  At  your  feet  I  learned  to  love  Greek,  and 
my  love  of  the  Bible  was  fostered  by  your  earnest  devoutness. 
Were  you  still  among  us,  you  would  kindly  welcome  the  fruit 
of  study,  which  now  I  can  only  lay  upon  your  tomb;  and 
would  gladly  accept  any  help  it  can  give  towards  understand- 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  257 

ing  the  blessed  word  of  God,  the  treasure  of  our  common  Chris- 
tianity, whose  consolations  and  hopes  sustained  you  in  life  and 
in  death,  and  went  with  you  into  the  unseen  and  eternal. 

Nomen  multis  clarum  et  venerabile. 
Mihi   adhuc  magister  atque  pater." 

Wednesday  night — Joint  Celebration.  This  annual  enter- 
tainment was  the  result  of  the  combined  efforts  of  the  two 
literary  societies,  Jeff,  and  Wash.,  and  had  for  its  chief  attrac- 
tion an  address  by  some  distinguished  personage — this  year 
by  Senator  Bayard,  of  Delaware.  Here  also  I  was  one  of  the 
marshals  aiding  as  best  I  could  in  disposing  satisfactorily— 
an  impossibility — of  a  more  than  comfortable  number  to  fill 
the  Hall,  many,  myself  included,  having  to  take  refuge  in  the 
windows.  The  colors  of  the  two  societies,  having  their  re- 
spective mottoes  inscribed  in  gold  letters  hung  over  the  stage 
in  graceful  folds,  while  on  the  stage  sat  the  professors  and 
other  eminent  gentlemen,  including  Gov.  Walker,  Ex-Gov. 
Swann,  Rev.  Dr.  John  A.  Broadus,  Rev.  Dr.  J.  L.  M.  Curry, 
Thomas  Jefferson  Randolph,  Lieut-Gov.  Marye,  Hon.  B. 
Johnson  Barbour,  etc.  After  prayer  by  Dr.  Curry,  the  speaker 
was  introduced  in  a  few  well-chosen  sentences  by  Mr.  William 
Cooper,  S.  Ca.,  Chairman  of  the  Joint  Committee. 

Mr.  Bayard  arose  with  a  pleasant  smile,  first  addressing 
himself,  with  a  slight  bow  to  the  stage  occupants  and  then  the 
audience.  He  was  in  the  regulation  evening  dress,  and  held 
in  his  hands  a  very  thin  black  portfolio  containing  the  manu- 
script of  his  address,  which  he  untied  and  opened  as  he  ad- 
vanced towards  the  small  stand  placed  for  its  support.  To  this 
he  referred  frequently,  reading  page  after  page,  but  occasion- 
ally gave  emphasis  to  favored  and  telling  passages  in  delightful 
extemporaneous  oratory.  He  stood  erect,  being  at  least  six 
feet  one  inch  high,  forty-five  years  of  age,  and  weighing  two 
hundred  pounds.  His  shoulders  were  broad,  thick  and  square ; 
face  clean  shaven,  bearing  in  repose  a  kind,  gentle  expression; 
nose  well-developed,  slightly  of  the  Roman  type;  mouth  and 
lips  of  good  size;  eyes  bluish-gray,  bright  and  penetrating; 
complexion  clear,  healthy,  bordering  on  the  sanguine;  hair 
abundant,  chestnut-brown,  parted  well  to  the  left  and  slightly 
long.  His  subject  was,  "  True  education  and  personal  honor/* 


258  UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA 

and  throughout  the  hour  he  delighted  every  one  present 
by  his  clear  resounding  voice,  well-accentuated  English,  noble 
and  lofty  sentiments.  We  can  only  include  here  a  few  ex- 
cerpts : 

The  duty  here  commenced  is  to  cease  only  with  your  lives 
— and  your  efforts  should  be  to  discipline  your  reasoning 
powers ;  to  raise  higher  and  higher  the  standard  of  excellence ; 
to  enlarge  your  sympathies  with  the  most  gifted  minds  of  all 
ages ;  to  learn  the  history  of  what  man  has  been  and  has  done, 
as  the  evidence  of  what  he  may  be  and  can  do.  These  are 
paths  in  which  the  further  you  advance  the  more  worthily 
will  you  deal  with  the  gifts  of  reason,  thought  and  language — 
of  leisure  and  opportunity.  Latin  and  Greek  now  and  ever 
will  continue  to  form  the  essential  basis  of  a  truly  liberal  edu- 
cation and  the  only  sound  basis  for  an  accurate  comprehension 
of  the  two  requisite  modern  languages — French  and  German ; 
and  whilst  language  continues  to  be  the  organ  of  human 
thought  and  human  influence,  they  will  be  necessary  to  every 
system  of  higher  education. 

The  lever,  pulley,  wedge,  screw,  wheel  and  axle,  and  incline 
plane,  form  the  basis  of  all  mechanical  arts,  and  all  power  ar- 
ranged in  defiance  of,  or  in  disregard  of  these  simple  primary 
principles,  will  be  in  vain;  so  likewise  in  this  life  of  ours,  in 
all  our  social  and  political  relations,  in  order  to  proceed  with 
usefulness  and  safety  our  action  must  be  based  upon  true  prin- 
ciples. You  will  soon  be  called  from  these  calm  shades  into 
the  turmoil  of  active  life  where  you  must  deal  with,  and  have 
effect  upon  the  passions,  interests,  vices  and  virtues  of  your 
fellow-men.  Do  not  forget  or  underrate  your  responsibilities, 
as  you  are  "  select  men,"  to  whose  custody  severally  a  "  talent  " 
has  been  entrusted ;  it  is  yours,  not  alone  for  safe  keeping,  but 
for  increase.  It  must  be  employed ;  if  idly  laid  away,  judgment 
of  condemnation  will  be  pronounced  against  you.  A  nation 
cannot  be  elevated  in  its  culture  and  character  from  below,  but 
from  the  upper  table-lands  of  thought,  feeling  and  knowledge ; 
and  hence  arises  the  grave  importance  of  the  example  set  by 
those  in  authority  to  the  people,  and  which,  for  better  or  for 
worse,  will  insinuate  itself  into  the  mass. 

The  low  morals,  manners  and  habits  of  a  ruler  may  filter 
down  and  degrade  his  countrymen,  so  that  succeeding  rulers 


£  "S 

51 

I  fi 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  259 

may  be  chosen  through  depraved  judgment  and  sentiment. 
The  effect  of  a  complicated  mass  of  machinery  in  full  motion 
is  similar  to  that  which  you  will  experience  upon  your  entrance 
into  the  busy  workshop  of  human  affairs.  You  will  be  con- 
stantly mistaking  effects  for  causes,  weaknesses  for  powers, 
and  shams  for  realities.  But  experience  will  enable  you  to  dis- 
cern the  true  conditions  upon  which  human  affairs  are  trans- 
acted. As  in  physics  so  in  human  government,  a  few  pri- 
mary principles,  certain  and  necessary  virtues  must  be  found 
and  observed,  or  the  objects  for  which  government  was  or- 
dained among  men  can  never  be  accomplished.  The  founders 
of  our  government  were  truthful,  honest,  constant,  frugal,  in- 
dustrious and  brave — adversity  had  been  their  nurse — and 
naturally  they  based  their  organic  laws  on  these  principles,  so 
that  they  became  its  motive  power,  the  inspiring  sentiment  of 
the  entire  scheme.  And  it  is  upon  the  preservation  and  con- 
stant exercise  of  these  simple  virtues  of  the  founders  that  the 
happiness  and  safety  of  our  country  depend.  It  was  designed 
for  a  people  like  themselves,  totally  unfit  for  a  people  unlike 
them,  and  any  attempts  to  engraft  upon  it  a  government  of 
different  ideas  and  principles  can  be  but  the  commencement 
of  loss,  sorrow,  and  certain  failure.  If  our  Constitution  has 
been  irreparably  invaded,  it  has  been  because  the  virtues  which 
gave  it  birth  have  fallen  into  disuse,  and  the  hands  and  brains 
of  the  invaders  have  been  actuated  more  by  hatred  than  a 
love  of  justice,  by  a  love  of  gain  than  a  love  of  truth,  and  by  a 
fear  of  temporary  local  discontent  rather  than  the  courage 
necessary  to  enable  them  to  stand  by  their  duty.  Virtuous 
qualities,  which  alone  can  create  and  keep  a  State,  are  personal 
and  individual,  and  when  possessed  by  leaders  influence  the 
masses,  but  above  these  virtues  floats  that  fine  aroma  of  senti- 
ment and  character — personal  honor — delicate  and  sensitive 
yet  more  powerful  than  armies,  without  marketable  value 
yet  outweighing  all  things  purchasable,  undefined  and  perhaps 
undefinable,  but  always  accurate,  the  first  born  child  of  good 
faith  and  kindly  feeling,  which  guides  good  men  when  their 
mental  powers  are  obscured  by  doubt,  and  to  deny  the  exist- 
ence of  which  would  involve  the  degradation  of  the  human 
species;  this  is  the  moral  conscience  of  the  great,  occupying 
the  place  of  virtue,  and  gives  birth  to  the  noblest  deeds.  These 


26o  UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA 

essential  qualities  are  in  great  danger  of  falling  into  disuse 
in  the  government  of  this  country,  since  now  the  real  govern- 
ing powers  are  not  those  which  are  apparent,  owing  to  the  sys- 
tem of  incorporation  being  so  widely  extended  as  to  allow  the 
aggregation  of  wealth,  consequently  power,  in  the  hands  of 
certain  artificial  persons,  as  contradistinguished  from  natural 
persons,  thereby  enabling  them  to  exert  an  influence  not  con- 
templated by  our  constitution  of  government,  which  bids  fair 
to  build  up  a  power  behind  the  throne  greater  than  the  throne 
itself,  and  to  control  the  States  and  the  general  government 
by  the  creatures  of  their  own  laws.  While  our  system  nowhere 
warrants  the  execution  of  political  power  by  a  corporation, 
yet,  in  fact,  corporations  do  hold,  through  their  agents  and 
members,  political  powers  at  this  day  never  dreamed  of  by 
the  founders  of  our  government,  and  but  little  comprehended 
by  the  people  of  our  time.  A  nation  devoted  to  money-get- 
ting must  rely  upon  mercenaries  to  protect  its  wealth,  and  oft- 
times  falls  a  prey  to  the  very  baseness  it  has  invoked  to  its  aid. 
And  such,  I  fear,  is  one  of  the  greatest  difficulties  which  you 
will  be  called  upon  to  meet — the  regeneration,  purification  and 
elevation  of  our  political  system.  No  one  virtue  is  a  greater 
necessity  in  human  society  than  simple  truth;  surely  no  social 
crime  is  more  dangerous  than  a  lie,  and  the  man  who  utters  it, 
or  palters  with  the  truth,  should  be  considered  a  public  enemy, 
unworthy  of  any  post  of  honor  or  profit.  Truth  in  the  his- 
torian, ruler,  legislator,  and  the  affairs  of  men  is  the  keystone. 
Do  not  accustom  yourself  to  consider  debt  only  as  an  incon- 
venience— you  will  find  it  a  calamity.  Let  it  be  your  first  care 
not  to  be  in  any  man's  debt.  Happiness  flows  from  constant 
industry;  labor  is  the  creator  of  all  the  benefits  we  enjoy; 
there  is  no  cure  for  low  spirits  like  being  at  hard  work,  and 
never  was  there  more  need  for  it  than  now  and  here  in  the 
South.  But  great  as  is  all  the  scattered  wealth  of  Virginia, 
you  have  a  moral  inheritance  infinitely  greater  and  more 
valuable,  in  the  memory  and  character  of  the  great  and  good 
men  whose  forms  have  once  again  been  clasped  to  the  breast 
of  the  land  that  gave  them  birth,  and  which  so  many  of  them 
died  to  defend.  "  We  would  not  give  our  dead  Lee  for  any 
living  soldier,"  is  the  proud  response  of  every  true  Virginian. 
And  what  wonder?  Even  he,  conscientious  as  he  was  able, 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  261 

and  modest  as  he  was  brave,  was  never  so  powerful  in  life 
as  now  in  death.  His  pure  spirit,  freed  from  earthly  contact, 
speaks  in  tones  of  gentle  admonition  to  us  all — aye,  to  all.  Let 
me,  then,  leave  you  with  him,  in  the  hope  that  all  may  emulate 
his  illustrious  example  and  attain  his  greatest  ambition: 

Who  misses,  or  who  wins  the  prize, 

Go,  lose  or  conquer  as  you  can ; 
But  if  you  fall,  or  if  you  rise, 

Be  each,  pray  God,  a  gentleman. 

After  the  applause  had  subsided  from  this  very  acceptable 
address,  Professor  Holmes  announced  the  fortunate  winner 
of  the  Magazine 'Medal,  and  conferred  the  same  upon  Mr.  R. 
T.  W.  Duke,  Jr.,  Va.,  who  in  a  few  minutes'  speech  delighted 
the  audience  with  brilliant  thoughts  and  beautiful  delivery — 
gifts  which  in  later  years  have  grown  so  much  brighter  and 
made  him  the  distinguished  Virginian  that  he  is. 

At  the  conclusion  of  these  exercises  as  the  audience  began 
dispersing,  I  recognized  it  a  favorable  time  for  presenting 
myself  with  congratulations  to  Mr.  Bayard.  Some  days 
before  I  had  received  from  my  uncle,  Ex-Gov.  Robert  J.  Rey- 
nolds, of  Delaware,  a  very  warm  letter  of  introduction,  which 
was  in  my  pocket,  and  while  waiting  and  watching  for  a  pause 
in  the  almost  ceaseless  hand-shaking,  I  happened  to  see  Pro- 
fessor Venable  beckoning  to  me  from  the  stage,  arid  as  I 
responded  to  his  summons  he  carelessly  placed  his  arms,  around 
my  shoulders,  saying :  "  I  want  you  to  meet  your  Senator  and 
Gov.  Swann,  who  are  now  talking  together  and  stopping  with 
me."  A  moment  later  in  presenting  me  he  added  a  word  of 
pleasantry,  "  This  is  the  only  Blue  Hen's  chicken  we  have  had 
during  the  present  session."  After  a  courteous  bow  and  a 
hearty  shake  of  the  hands,  I  supplemented  the  personal  intro- 
duction with  Uncle's  letter,  which  Mr.  Bayard  hurriedly  read, 
then  expressed  pleasure  in  having  his  State  represented  by  a 
nephew  of  one  he  so  highly  esteemed.  His  manner  towards 
me  was  thoroughly  cordial  and  friendly  while  that  of  Ex-Gov. 
Swann  was  correspondingly  reserved — almost  frigid.  We 
conversed  for  five  or  more  minutes,  until  the  Hall  was  cleared, 
drifted  out  behind  .the  crowd,  and  in  bidding  good  night  he 
expressed  the  hope  of  another  interview  before  returning 
northward. 


262  UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA 

Thursday  Morning — Commencement  or  Final  Day.  At  10 
o'ck.  the  students  assembled  on  the  Lawn  in  front  of  the 
Rotunda,  where  they  and  others  formed  in  line  and  order — 
Board  of  Visitors,  Faculty,  Alumni,  graduates,  proficients, 
those  of  distinction,  and  the  general  body — and  proceeded  to 
the  Public  Hall,  where  the  diplomas  of  varying  rank  were  to 
be  conferred.  The  exercises  were  opened  with  prayer  by  Rev. 
S.  A.  Steel,  after  which  the  Chairman,  Professor  Venable, 
called  in  turn  the  names  of  the  successful  candidates  in  each 
department,  who,  one  by  one,  responded  by  walking  upon  the 
stage  to  receive  from  his  hands  the  evidence  of  their  hard- 
earned  honors.  This  distribution  continued  for,  at  least,  an 
hour,  and  after  a  half  hour's  intermission,  slightly  beyond 
midday,  the  Alumni,  friends,  and  students  again  assembled  in 
the  Hall  to  hear  the  annual  address  by  Ex-Gov.  Swann,  of 
Maryland.  After  an  invocation  by  Rev.  Dr.  John  A.  Broadus, 
the  Alumni  Society's  President,  Hon.  B.  Johnson  Barbour,  in- 
troduced the  speaker  in  a  happy  manner :  "  It  affords  me  great 
pleasure  that  one  of  our  most  distinguished  and  busy  members 
has  thrown  off  the  mantle  of  toil  for  a  brief  spell  in  order  to  be 
with  us  to-day  to  play  the  major  part  in  these  exercises.  He 
comes  to  us  no  stranger — a  Virginian  by  birth,  a  Marylander 
by  adoption,  who  in  his  affiliated  State  has  been  the  recipient 
of  unusual  confidence  and  honors,  since  he  has  occupied  many 
of  the  most  exalted  positions  in  the  gift  of  his  people — 
President  of -a  great  railroad,  banker,  legislator,  Mayor  of  a 
great  city,  Governor,  Senator,  and  Congressman.  I  take  great 
pleasure  in  introducing  the  Hon.  Thomas  Swann,  of  Mary- 
land." 

Mr.  Swann  arose  deliberately,  bowed  slightly,  and  advanced 
to  the  small  stand  upon  which  he  placed  his  printed  manuscript, 
and,  with  eyes  seldom  diverted  read  closely  its  context  for 
nearly  two  hours.  His  personality  was  well-calculated  to 
impress  the  youthful  as  being  somewhat  phlegmatic  and  slug- 
gish, possessing  a  sanguine  temperament,  about  sixty  years 
of  age,  beyond  the  average  size — weighing  possibly  two  hun- 
dred and  twenty  pounds — broad  square  thick  shoulders,  large 
straight  face  without  angles,  lower  portion  full ;  forehead  broad 
and  prominent;  eyes  clear  with  deep  orbits;  nose  straight  and 
well-formed;  moustache  and  beard  heavy,  the  latter  of  good 


UNIVERSITY    OF   VIRGINIA  263 

length,  hair  abundant  and  parted  well  to  the  left.  He  had 
a  stern  positive  look,  deep  sonorous  voice,  but  articulated 
rather  indistinctly,  somewhat  muffled,  allowing  those  in  the 
remote  distance  to  catch  easily  the  sound  but  not  the  clear 
interpretation.  We  include  here  a  few  excerpts : 

Education,  freedom  to  all  men,  and  the  unrestricted  bless- 
ings of  religious  toleration,  comprise  the  immortal  legacy, 
which  Thomas  Jefferson,  the  author  of  the  Declaration  of  In- 
dependence bequeathed  to  his  countrymen.  I  must  not,  how- 
ever, overlook,  as  co-laborers  in  the  great  field  of  human  prog- 
ress, the  cherished  names  of  Washington,  Madison,  Henry, 
Monroe  and  others,  now  sleeping  within  your  borders,  whose 
fame  is  interwoven  with  the  glory  and  renown  of  the  whole 
country,  as  well  as  the  triumphs  of  free  government  through- 
out the  world.  The  Federal  Constitution  was  not  the  result 
of  untried  experiment,  and  at  that  early  period  of  our  exist- 
ence it  was  not  easy  to  define  where  the  powers  of  the  Federal 
Government  ended,  and  at  what  point  those  of  the  States  be- 
gan. The  framers  of  the  Constitution  looked  to  no  contin- 
gencies as  possible  to  spring  up  from  this  source,  nor  did  they 
believe  that  any  conflict  of  jurisdiction  was  ever  likely  to  occur. 
In  guarding  against  centralization  they  retained  the  local 
jurisdiction  of  the  States,  but  did  not  provide  with  equal  ex- 
plicitness  for  the  dangers  to  which  they  were  exposed  under 
a  just  and  equitable  construction  of  the  powers  of  the  States 
in  their  claim  to  unlimited  and  absolute  sovereignty.  Could 
this  adjustment  have  taken  place  at  that  early  day,  what  sacri- 
fice of  life  and  wealth  would  have  been  avoided. 

The  condition  of  the  world  now  points  to  a  steady  advance 
of  all  those  improved  ideas  which  have  marked  the  progress 
of  free  government  heretofore.  England,  France,  Germany, 
Spain,  and  other  countries,  are  fast  yielding  to  new  and  more 
liberal  theories  of  government,  through  a  desire  to  recognize 
the  growing  power  of  the  people,  who  insist  that  the  past 
errors  of  the  world  be  corrected.  The  Roman  government  was 
the  first  to  strike  the  mask  from  the  false  theories  and  corrup- 
tions which  had  so  long  prevailed,  but  flushed  with  greed  for 
conquest  and  dominion  her  ambition  knew  no  bounds,  until 
the  dying  admonition  of  Augustus  came  as  a  warning  against 
their  mad  career  of  universal  dominion.  Our  American  Revo- 


264  UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA 

lution  was  the  next  advance  of  popular  (Republican)  Govern- 
ment, when  it  made  its  last  grand  rally,  long  after  Carthage, 
Greece,  and  Rome  had  yielded  to  the  corruptions  of  a  licen- 
tious age  and  existed  only  in  the  magnificence  and  grandeur  of 
their  ruins. 

The  arguments  against  territorial  enlargement;  and  the 
danger  of  expansion  in  a  Republic,  has  already  been  refuted 
successfully.  The  theory  of  Hamilton  and  Montesquieu — 
that  a  Republic  should  have  a  small  territory,  or  it  cannot 
exist — in  our  experience  has  been  proven  obsolete  and  erron- 
eous, since  steam,  telegraphy,  electricity,  eager  exchange  of 
scientific,  mechanical  and  industrial  thought,  tend  to  annihilate 
space  and  to  bring  distant  points  together.  The  Monroe 
doctrine — that  no  foreign  potentate  or  power  will  again  be  per- 
mitted to  acquire  a  foothold  upon  this  Continent  with  institu- 
tions hostile  to  our  own — was  then,  and  continues  now,  the  liv- 
ing test  of  American  statesmanship  in  controlling  the  destinies 
of  this  whole  continent.  Even  Canada,  the  established  strong- 
hold of  Great  Britain,  must  sooner  or  later  yield  to  the  inevi- 
table laws  of  progress,  and  I  need  not  ask  how  such  a  struggle 
is  likely  to  terminate  ?  Cuba  and  Mexico  in  due  time  will  fol- 
low the  same  example.  The  advantages  of  our  institutions, 
climate,  soil,  and  the  incalculable  wealth  of  our  agricultural 
and  mineral  resources  have  made  the  march  of  empire  con- 
tinuous— oceans  have  been  chained  together  while  men  have 
been  sleeping,  by  the  increasing  pressure  of  inevitable  expan- 
sion. Our  natural  possibilities  are  beyond  computation,  and 
always  at  ready  command,  so  that  hostile  invasion  would  be 
absolute  madness.  With  inducements  held  out,  and  the  irrita- 
tions convulsing  the  Old  World  the  close  of  this  century  may 
find  us  with  a  hundred  million  souls,  and  large  territory  for 
increased  numbers.  Our  people  have  achieved  astounding 
success  in  the  mechanical  arts,  practical  inventions,  navigation, 
agriculture  manufacturing,  mining,  and  the  various  uses  of 
applied  chemistry.  Our  signal  service  anticipates  heat  and 
cold,  protecting  persons  and  property  against  dangerous  sur- 
prises. How  far  these  developments  are  to  go  before  reaching 
a  culmination  is  hazardous  to  conjecture,  but  certain  it  is  that 
the  future  is  more  full  of  hope  than  the  past,  prosperous  as  it 
has  been. 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA     .  265 

We  are  destined  to  become  the  strongest  maritime  power  of 
the  world,  as  the  territorial  policy  of  England  will  prove  a 
source  of  weakness  and  cause  the  scepter  she  now  holds  to  fall 
into  our  hands.  Our  scientific  fortifications  and  coast  defences 
make  us  impregnable,  and  limit  our  warfare  to  the  sea.  We 
recognize  the  need  of  no  foreign  power  as  a  support,  being 
absolutely  self-reliant  and  entirely  independent  of  all.  We 
need  concern  ourselves  little  whether  our  advance  march  meets 
with  interference,  or  whether  a  large  standing  army  and 
navy  be  maintained,  as  under  all  circumstances,  without  the 
least  delay,  all  contingencies  can  readily  be  met  from  within. 
The  American  people  will  submit  hereafter  to  no  compromise 
of  freedom.  Her  foundations  have  been  laid  broad  and  deep, 
and  they  will  be  strengthened  as  the  claims  of  humanity  and 
universal  equality,  in  all  nations  and  among  all  people  strug- 
gling for  liberty,  may  demand  our  sympathies.  With  such  an 
inheritance  we  are  not  without  responsibility  for  increased  vigi- 
lance, that  our  duties  are  not  overlooked  or  treated  with  in- 
difference, for  we  are  admonished /by  the  experience  of  all 
ages,  that  the  tendency  of  human  power  has  ever  been  to  steal 
from  the  hands  of  the  many  to  the  few.  The  States  must 
ever  constitute  a  most  important  and  conservative  agency  in 
our  complex  system,  and  must  be  protected  in  the  exercise  of 
all  the  rights  secured  to  them  by  the  Constitution,  as  the  surest 
means  of  protection  against  anarchy  and  usurpation.  The 
transfer  of  the  powers  of  the  States  to  the  central  government 
cannot  fail  to  lead  to  the  most  perilous  results,  if  permitted  to 
go  on,  and  even  to  complication  in  the  end,  which  may  effect 
the  duration  of  the  Republic.  The  people  cannot  watch  with 
too  much  jealousy  this  tendency  to  consolidation  in  a  govern- 
ment like  ours. 

To-day  under  a  common  flag,  with  the  past  forgotten  and 
every  star  in  its  appropriate  sphere,  we  may  be  permitted  to 
rejoice  together  in  that  glorious  future  which  I  have  en- 
deavored feebly  to  foreshadow.  Thanks  to  Almighty  God, 
we  are  still  Americans,  all;  and  the  fiat  has  gone  forth 
throughout  this  land,  that  the  heritage  bequeathed  to  us  by 
the  blood  of  our  fathers  can  never  be  permitted  to  pass  into 
other  hands. 

Scarcely   had   the   echoes   of   applause   ceased    from    Mr. 


266  UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA 

Swarm's  address  when  loud  and  repeated  calls  were  made  for 
Gov.  Walker,  then  the  chief  executive  of  the  State,  who, 
without  hesitation,  advanced  to  the  front  of  the  stage  and 
expressed  something  beyond  delight  in  being  present  at  the 
Commencement.  That  his  public  duties  were  many  and  while 
this  attendance  might  be  considered  one,  he  accepted  it  far 
more  as  an  unalloyed  pleasure ;  that  according  to  his  conviction 
there  were  only  three  institutions  in  our  country  to  which  the 
friends  of  highest  learning  could  look  with  confidence,  and  this 
University  is  one  of  those — the  only  one  in  the  South,  etc. 
We  undergraduates  of  the  academic  department  were  im- 
pressed less  favorably  with  Mr.  Swann' s  address  than  that  of 
Mr.  Bayard's — a  fact,  no  doubt,  largely  due  to  the  two  subjects, 
the  one  somewhat  heavy  and  appealing  to  the  legal  and  his- 
torical mind,  the  other  more  buoyant  and  susceptible  of  easy 
digestion  and  assimilation  by  the  average  student.  At  the 
same  time  there  was  a  great  difference  in  the  manner  of  de- 
livery and  personality  of  the  two  men — Mr.  Swann  with  a  cold 
austere  inanimate  expression,  a  deep  monotone  voice  soft- 
ened and  modulated  seldom,  and  that  upon  a  subject,  and  at 
an  hour,  little  calculated  to  inspire  a  high  degree  of  apprecia- 
tion; Mr.  Bayard,  the  evening  before,  with  a  natural  vein  of 
humor,  pleasantry,  younger  life,  and  timely  smiling,  indicative 
of  an  inspiration  from  the  occasion,  as  though  joyed  and  in 
sympathy  with  the  surrounding  atmosphere  he  breathed.  Be- 
yond this,  however,  the  record  of  the  two  in  public  life  bore 
strong  contrast,  that  which  was  known  to  most  of  us — Mr. 
Bayard  had  always  championed  the  "  Southern  Cause,"  and 
whether  in  or  out  of  office  never  failed  in  effort  to  ameliorate 
the  suffering  and  to  lighten  the  yoke  of  adversity  thrust  upon 
her  people ;  Mr.  Swann  had  been  loyal  to  the  Union,  had  little 
sympathy  with  the  South' s  struggle  for  freedom  and  inde- 
pendence, had  been  the  Republican  governor  of  Maryland,  near 
the  close  of  the  Civil  War,  when  most  of  her  honorable  citi- 
zens were  disfranchised  owing  to  their  southern  sentiments, 
and  while  Governor  had  abandoned  the  severe  radical  princi- 
ples of  Republicanism  for  those  of  Democracy,  then  gaining 
ascendancy — a  sagacity  resulting  in  his  being  sent  to  Congress 
by  his  new  affiliated  party,  having  just  been  re-elected  the  pre- 
vious fall  for  a  third  term.  In  spite  of  these  youthful  impres- 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  267 

sions,  however,  his  address  was  pronounced  by  those  of  ma- 
turer  years  to  have  been  timely,  encouraging,  and  handled 
masterly  without  giving  the  slightest  offence — indeed,  with 
the  realization  of  intervening  occurrences  it  was  rilled  with 
prophetic  visions. 

About  4  o'ck.  that  afternoon  the  Alumni  assembled  at 
Massey's  dining  hall,  north  end  of  West  Range,  for  the 
annual  banquet,  which  extended  over  a  number  of  hours — 
far  into  the  night — when  also  came  into  being  the  student's 
farewell  function  of  the  session — Final  Ball — which  was 
held  in  the  Rotunda  (Library  room)  and  for  whose  pleas- 
ures most  of  our  social  contingent  had  not  only  remained  over 
but  had  been  instrumental  in  having  present  their  own  and  the 
other  fellows'  sisters,  in  whom  they  took  more  than  a  passing 
interest.  In  addition  to  this  influx  of  fair  strangers  came 
others — annual  pilgrims  to  the  Mecca,  who,  from  previous 
years'  experience,  accepted  gladly  renewed  invitations  to  visit 
professors'  and  other  families  to  whom  they  had  the  good 
fortune  of  being  connected  by  ties  of  relation  or  friendship. 
It  was  a  season  when  every  one  at  the  University,  and  many 
in  Charlottesville,  kept  open  house,  dispensing  hospitality 
without  reserve,  thus  contributing  easily  with  the  local  de- 
butantes nearly  a  hundred  fair  ones,  possessing  in  high  degree 
grace  and  charm — mostly  ultra-dressed  and  bedecked  with  a 
profusion  of  jewels  and  flowers — that  gave  a  brilliancy  and 
redolence  singularly  delightful.  Truly  it  was  here  that  stout, 
chivalrous  and  manly  hearts  met,  charmed,  courted,  loved  and 
won  fair  maidens — the  beauty  and  pride  of  famed  Southland. 

During  the  few  hours  between  dinner  and  supper  I  made 
ready  for  leaving  on  the  late  train  (1.45  A.  M.),  storing  for 
safety  the  several  room  articles  to  be  used  in  subsequent  years, 
packing  my  two  trunks  and  grip,  and  sending  these  to  the 
depot  in  Charlottesville  to  await  checking  upon  my  arrival 
near  train  time.  After  taking  supper,  the  last  meal  served  at 
the  dining  hall  that  session,  several  of  us  assembled  in  a  fel- 
low-student's room  on  West  Range,  and  while  chatting  there 
over  our  parting,  those  not  to  return,  our  likely  vacation 
doings,  etc.,  we  all  decided  to  go  around  to  the  Ball  Room  to 
see  its  degree  of  readiness — decorations,  metamorphosed  con- 
dition, cleared  for  foot  rather  than  head  action,  illumination, 


268  UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA 

etc. — and  en  route  we  purposely  passed  the  Alumni  banquet- 
ing hall,  which  had  windows  down  from  the  top  and  curtains 
to  veil  the  lower  sash,  thereby  cutting  off  most  of  the  public 
gaze.  Attracted,  however,  by  the  audible  speaking  and  noise 
within  we  ventured  upon  the  small  porch  on  the  north  front 
of  the  hall,  and  slightly  opened  one  of  the  double  doors  in 
order  to  see  more  and  not  be  seen.  Professor  Southall  was 
responding  to  a  toast  in  a"  most  eloquent  manner,  and  as  he 
neared  the  finish,  Professor  Venable,  seeing  the  door  ajar  and 
portions  of  several  faces  in  the  darkness,  arose  from  his  table 
and  came  over  towards  us  in  order — we  thought  to  close  the 
door — to  invite  us  within  as  partakers  of  the  good  things  he 
and  they  had  already  enjoyed  ad  nauseam.  At  first  we  hesi- 
tated, but  he  was  so  insistent,  in  fact  commanding,  that  there 
was  nothing  to  do  but  accept,  consequently  the  six  or  eight 
of  us  filed  in  and  seated  ourselves  at  one  of  the  round  tables 
to  the  right  of  the  door,  where  in  a  few  moments  he  assigned 
two  waiters,  whom  he  directed  to  look  after  our  comfort  by 
serving  as  much  as  desired  of  the  bountiful  overflow.  For 
more  than  an  hour  we  enjoyed  to  our  heart's  content  the 
tempting  viands  spread  before  us,  some  even  imbibing  the 
sparkling  wines  that  seemingly  flowed  continuously  as  from 
a  bubbling  fountain.  But  beyond  the  precious  morsels  for  the 
body  came  that  delightful  wit  and  humor  of  the  speakers  for 
the  mind — surely  a  happy  combination,  and  one  the  more  ap- 
preciated since  it  came  as  a  complete  surprise,  and  to  me  a 
first  introduction  to  postprandial  delights. 

When  nearing  the  close,  shortly  after  9  o'ck,  I  approached 
Professor  Venable,  who  stood  with  a  party  of  gentlemen  in 
conversation,  to  bid  him  good-bye  and  to  express  thanks  for 
this  last  evidence  of  generous  hospitality,  whereupon  he  laugh- 
ingly remarked :  "  One  good  turn  deserves  another ;  won't  you 
see  that  Senator  Bayard  and  Gov.  Swann  get  to  my  house 
safely?  I  will  be  detained  here  with  the  Governor  (Walker) 
and  a  Committee  for  fifteen  or  twenty  minutes,  after  which 
I  will  join  them."  Of  course  I  was  only  too  delighted  to  ac- 
cede to  the  request,  and  at  once  acquainted  the  two  gentlemeri 
of  the  service  assigned  me  and  that  I  awaited  their  pleasure. 
I  dare  say  that  Professor  Venable  well-remembered  my  refusal 
of  wine  at  his  own  table,  and  felt  in  a  measure  relieved  in  hav- 


University — Medical  Class 

(1876-77) 


FACING    268 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  269 

ing  found  one  who,  without  fear  or  favor,  could  act  as  pilot 
to  those  that  had  smiled  too  often  in  the  face  of  Bacchus.  On 
the  way  we  three,  perforce,  were  very  close  friends,  but  it 
remained  for  me  to  do  most  of  the  talking,  until  by  slow 
steps  we  had  nearly  reached  Jeff.  Hall,  and  the  movements 
of  the  distinguished  were  becoming  more  unsteady,  when  Gov. 
Swann  had  coherent  presence  of  mind  to  say :  "  Why  Sena- 
tor !  If  this  were  day  strangers  seeing  us  might  think  our  ir- 
regular gait  due  to  excessive  drink  rather  than  to  the  very 
uneven  pavement."  Over  this  they  chuckled  not  a  little,  think- 
ing possibly  thereby  that  the  innocent  had  been  deceived.  I 
must  confess  to  a  sense  of  relief  when  I  had  landed  safely  my 
precious  charge  at  their  destination.  Since  then  it  has  been 
my  good  fortune  to  meet  Mr.  Bayard  a  number  of  times, 
the  last  shortly  before  his  death,  1898,  when  our  conversations 
were  most  entertaining  and  enjoyable,  as  his  vast  experience 
and  knowledge  of  people  and  places ;  extraordinary  memory  for 
names,  faces,  dates  and  instances;  affability  and  sincereness; 
fluency  and  ready  inclination  to  have  others  share  his  knowl- 
edge, rendered  him  always  a  charming  personality,  a  courtly 
gentleman,  an  unforgetting  friend.  I  never  saw  Mr.  Swann 
after  bidding  him  farewell  that  night.  He  died  near  Leesburg, 
Va.,  July  24,  1883,  and  two  days  later  was  buried  in  Green- 
mount  Cemetery,  Baltimore.  Near  noon  of  his  funeral  day 
I  happened  to  be  walking  down  Charles  Street,  and  when 
approaching  Saratoga  Street  saw  a  hearse  and  several  car- 
riages drive  up  in  front  of  Old  St.  Paul's  Church.  It  was  a 
beautiful  day,  not  excessively  hot,  so  I  patiently  waited  the 
entrance  into  the  sanctuary  of  the  cortege  with  its  few  at- 
tendants, and  inquired  of  an  officer  standing  near,  whose 
funeral  it  was,  only  to  receive  the  surprising  reply :  "  Governor 
Swann's."  Out  of  respect  to  his  memory  and  our  slight  ac- 
quaintance I  entered  the  church  and  remained  until  the  service 
was  concluded,  and  while  there  could  not  help  being  impressed 
with  the  fact — how  transient  is  greatness !  For  a  man  in  life 
to  have  sustained  to  the  State  and  city,  during  so  many  years, 
such  close  relationship,  to  have  occupied  the  many  exalted 
positions  of  trust  and  confidence — gifts  of  corporations  as  well 
as  of  the  people — now  in  death  to  be  allowed  to  go  to  his 
final  rest  followed  by  a  mere  handful  of  mourners  and  friends 


270  UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA 

seemed  truly  sad,  yes,  almost  incredible,  but  such  was  the 
irony  of  fate.  That  night  after  leaving  these  two  gentlemen 
at  Professor  Venable's  I  went  to  the  Library,  where  finding 
the  Ball  in  full  swing,  I  remained  until  i  o'ck,  then  hastened 
to  the  depot  for  my  homeward  train — thus  ended  my  first 
session. 


CHAPTER    XIV 
INCIDENTS  AND  COMMENCEMENT  OF  SESSION   1873-74 

Session  of  1873-74 ;  democratic  set  of  students ;  Professor  Noah  K.  Davis ; 
excerpts  from  home-letters;  Gen.  Wade  Hampton's  lecture;  death  of 
Mrs.  Venable,  also  Dr.  Henry  Howard;  Jeff,  and  Wash,  interests; 
Episcopal  Convention ;  Commencement — sermons  by  Revs.  T.  D.  With- 
erspoon  and  James  A.  Duncan;  Wash.  Celebration — T.  L.  Raymond, 
R.  A.  Saulsbury,  J.  St.  Clair  Brookes ;  Jeff.  Celebration— F.  F.  Reese, 
M.  W.  Ransom,  Jr.,  J.  A.  Powell ;  Joint  Celebration — Hon.  John 
Goode,  Gen.  Jubal  A.  Early;  alumni  address — Judge  J.  H.  Kennard; 
session  1874-75;  Semi-centennial;  Bayard  Taylor,  Daniel  B.  Lucas; 
Jeff,  and  Wash,  changes;  Rev.  Dr.  Steel's  marriage;  Mrs.  Cabell's 
death,  etc. 

THE  leading  incidents  of  my  first  University  year  have  been 
recounted  with  seeming  fullness,  as  it  marked  a  new  era  in 
my  career,  but  as  those  that  followed  were  largely  a  recasting, 
much  savoring  of  sameness  can  well-afford  to  be  omitted. 

While  there  existed  among  the  students  of  the  University, 
as  a  body,  a  decided  esprit  du  corps,  yet  there  prevailed  be- 
tween individuals  much  formality  and  manly  decorum.  As 
an  institution  it  gathered  within  its  fold  sons  of  the  represen- 
tative men  of  the  South — those  that  had  been  reared  in  luxury 
and  power,  knowing  well  the  meaning  of  family  and  paternal 
fame.  The  senator,  congressman,  cabinet-officer,  governor, 
lieutenant-governor,  legislator,  general,  colonel,  judge,  min- 
ister, lawyer,  doctor,  professor,  president  of  corporations, 
banks,  etc.,  whether  residing  in  one  or  another  state,  appar- 
ently had  the  same  ambition  for  their  sons  of  promise — that 
they  be  educated  at  the  University  founded  by  Thomas  Jeffer- 
son. In  spite  of  this  large  element  of  royal  gentry,  as  a  mat- 
ter of  fact,  the  majority  of  our  numbers  came  from  the  more 
humble  walks  of  life — many  even  having  earned  by  teaching 
and  other  avenues  sufficient  to  defray  their  University  course. 
Drawing  thus  from  these  extremes  might  suggest  the  creating 
and  existence  of  two  distinctive  and  recognized  castes,  but 
such  happily  was  not  the  case,  as  no  individual  student  paraded 
in  the  slightest  degree  his  ancestry,  or  masqueraded  on  the 

271 


272  UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA 

name  of  some  distinguished  relative.  A  close  association  of 
several  years  never  disclosed  from  young  Barringer  that  his 
father  was  a  brave  general  and  his  mother  the  only  sister  of 
Mrs."  Stonewall  "  Jackson ;  nor  did  Tyler  boast  himself  the  son 
of  an  Ex-President ;  nor  Stuart  of  a  father  who  was  Secretary 
of  the  Interior;  nor  would  you  have  ever  known  from  Dab- 
ney,  Emmet,  Hunton,  Ligon,  Mahone,  Marye,  Memminger, 
Ransom,  Seddon,  Wilmer,  and  many  others,  that  their  inherit- 
ance was  other  than  the  rank  and  file  of  humanity.  Even 
wealth  had  no  effect  or  advantage  save  the  self-satisfaction 
it  might  possibly  engender.  There  were  few  opportunities  for 
extravagance  or  anything  else  except  work — the  sole  atmos- 
phere we  breathed,  making  everyone  meet  on  a  common  plain, 
educational.  It  is  true  there  were  friendly  groups — the  result 
of  either  relationship,  family  friendship,  fraternity  ties,  pre- 
paratory school  associations,  or  kindred  local  residence — but 
none  of  these  precluded  in  any  sense  an  unrestricted  sociability 
with  others  less  favored.  To  the  latter  class  I  undoubtedly 
belonged,  standing  alone  from  my  State,  without  a  vestige 
of  following  save  a  personality  far  more  reserved  than  aggres- 
sive, so  that  whatever  friendships  were  formed  came  solely 
through  innate  and  not  ulterior  influences.  That  I  had  es- 
tablished such  during  my  first  year  to  an  extent  worth  con- 
sidering was  foreign  to  my  belief  and  expectations,  until  my 
return  at  the  beginning  of  the  second  year,  October  i,  1873, 
when  much  to  my  surprise  nearly  every  one  of  the  older  and 
more  substantial  students  greeted  me  with  many  words  of 
delight — as  though  I  were  one  of  the  chosen.  This  kind  recep- 
tion was  indeed  gratifying  and  proved  conclusively  that  we 
cannot  always  estimate  correctly  the  value  others  place  upon  us. 
During  the  second  week  our  newly  elected  Professor  of 
Moral  Philosophy,  Noah  K.  Davis,  delivered  his  introductory 
lecture  on  the  "  Life  and  Work  of  Aristotle,"  at  which  were 
present  the  Faculty,  their  families  and  nearly  all  the  students. 
He  dwelt  upon  the  influence  of  Aristotle  on  the  mind  of  the 
world,  believing  it  to  have  been  greater  than  that  of  any  other 
person,  despite  the  fact  of  Socrates  and  Plato,  in  order,  taking 
approximate  rank. 

Home-letter,  Sunday  afternoon,  December  14,  1873.    My  dear  Mother : 
"  I  must  relieve  one  kind  of  intellectual  labor  by  another,  and  turn  from 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  273 

studies  to  your  weekly  letter.  This  morning  I  attended  the  Bible  class 
and  thereafter  the  Episcopal  Church  in  Charlottesville.  Heard  the  same 
old  minister,  Rev.  Dr.  Hanckel,  seemingly  a  good  man,  but  one  who  has 
seen  his  best  days  of  usefulness,  and  possesses  such  a  monotone  voice 
that  time  alone  can  make  acceptable — reminds  me  of  olives,  for  which  a 
fondness  is  acquired  only  through  persistent  tasting.  Beyond  these  di- 
versions nothing  of  moment  has  claimed  my  time  during  the  week  except 
regular  duties.  Yours  was  received  Wednesday  and  thoroughly  enjoyed 
despite  its  sentences  of  reproof  for  mistakes — that  which  I  shall  accept 
kindly,  in  the  spirit  it  was  intended.  Christmas  will  soon  be  upon  us,  a 
week  from  next  Thursday,  and  if  I  were  going  home  most  of  my  arrange- 
ments would  have  already  been  thought  out.  In  spite  of  the  great  desire 
to  be  with  you  then,  I  feel  the  loss  of  lectures,  the  demoralization  occa- 
sioned by  rest,  and  the  attending  expense  are  elements  in  the  aggregate 
that  should  be  supreme.  The  weather  so  far  this  session  has  continued 
to  be  perfectly  beautiful — so  warm  and  spring-like  that  I  have  made  no 
change  from  summer  clothing,  simply  waiting  from  day  to  day  for  the 
colder  turn  to  come.  A  little  out  of  the  regular  line,  we  had  the  pleasure 
of  hearing  Gen.  Wade  Hampton,  of  S.  Ca.,  speak  last  night  in  the  Public 
Hall.  Professor  Venable  introduced  him  in  rather  flattering  language — 
as  a  great  military  chieftain,  whose  name  would  ever  be  held  dear  by 
those  loving  liberty,  justice  and  honor;  so  the  General  in  his  prefatory 
reciprocated  the  laudatory  strain — referring  to  the  Professor  as  being  in 
war  the  intrepid  aide-de-camp  to  the  immortal  Lee,  and  in  peace  the  most 
distinguished  professor  of  mathematics  in  the  South,  whose  fame  had 
spread  to  other  lands  than  our  own.  His  subject  was  '  The  Southern  His- 
torical Society.'  .  .  .  We  have  so  many  lectures  in  course  that  you 
might  think  an  extra  one  now  and  then  by  outsiders  would  meet  with 
little  favor,  but  that  is  far  from  truth,  as  in  reality  it  seems  our  nature 
and  business  to  gain  knowledge  upon  every  possible  subject,  and  when  it 
comes  so  easily  as  by  popular  lectures,  we  willingly,  yes,  with  unusual 
delight,  attend  all  that  offers."  .  .  . 

General  Hampton  was  no  stranger  to  us  students,  as  he 
visited  not  infrequently  his  brother-in-law,  Col.  Thomas  L. 
Preston,  who  resided  just  northeast  of  the  University  grounds. 
The  two  families,  Hampton  and  Preston,  were  bound  by  very 
close  ties — marital,  political  and  social — since  Gen.  John  S. 
Preston  of  South  Carolina,  a  brother  of  Col.  Thomas  L. 
Preston,  married  Caroline  Hampton,  an  aunt  of  Gen.  Hamp- 
ton's, while  the  latter  for  his  first  wife  married  Margaret, 
a  sister  of  the  two  Prestons.  I  had,  however,  never  heard 
Gen.  Hampton  speak — indeed,  regarded  him  simply  as  an 
aggressive  fighter,  without  forensic  attainments,  and  upon  this 
occasion  was  most  agreeably  surprised  at  his  easy  diction, 
ready  wit,  rapid,  enthusiastic  and  forceful  manner  of  delivery. 
After  affirming  his  allegiance  to  our  University,  the  foremost 
in  his  land — his  own  being  dismantled  by  the  ravages  of  war 
— he  vividly  narrated  the  creation  and  objects  of  "  The  South- 


274  UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA 

ern  Historical  Society."  To  collect,  classify,  preserve  and 
publish  all  documents  and  facts  pertaining  to  the  Civil  War 
that  may  illustrate  the  nature  of  the  struggle,  define  and  vindi- 
cate its  underlying  causes  and  principles,  and  mark  the  stages 
through  which  it  was  conducted  to  its  issue.  That  its  labors 
were  not  to  be  sectional  or  partisan,  but  to  bring  to  light  all 
antecedent  and  subsequent  facts  from  the  point  of  view  of 
both  contestants,  not  for  immediate  use,  but  for  the  future 
architect,  having  truth  as  his  model,  to  erect  an  edifice  which 
shall  be  an  enduring  monument  of  the  valor  of  the  heroes 
whose  deeds  it  commemorates  and  whose  fame  it  perpetuates ; 
of  the  heroic  and  self-sacrificing  devotion  of  the  fair  women 
of  the  South,  whose  gentle  hands  and  kind  hearts  ministered 
to  the  sick  and  suffering,  and  which  shall  be  a  fitting  memorial 
of  the  unnumbered  dead  who  sleep  "  on  the  vast  battle  plains 
from  the  Susquehanna  to  the  Rio  Grande."  He  thought  no 
nobler  work  could  enlist  sympathies  of  the  living,  or  call  forth 
stronger  the  virtues  of  humanity. 

Home-letter,  December  21,  1873 :  "  Several  of  us  this  morning  at- 
tended the  Presbyterian  Church  in  Charlottesville,  and  despite  the  beau- 
tiful sunshiny  day  the  majority  wore  overcoats.  .  .  .  It  is  needless  for 
me  to  reaffirm  how  much  I  would  enjoy  being  with  you  for  the  holidays, 
but  all  things  considered  it  is  best  that  I  remain  here  at  the  post  of 
duty.  I  shall  think  of  you  all  many  times  Christmas  Day,  and  I  fancy  I 
will  not  be  forgotten  in  thought,  even  though  the  intervening  space  be 
considerable.  .  .  .  Many  of  the  students  are  anticipating,  at  least,  some 
gayety  for  themselves  on  that  day — either  through  the  hospitality  of  town 
friends,  or  their  own  improvised  apple-toddy,  eggnog,  and  other  liquids  of 
greater  strength.  As  usual,  I  shall  try  to  keep  myself  clear  of  such  temp- 
tations. ...  I  regretted  to  see  a  few  days  ago  the  death  of  the  great 
Professor  Agassiz  of  Harvard,  for  beyond  doubt  he  was  the  most  re- 
nowned scientist  of  our  country,  even  though  he  firmly  believed  in  the 
'immutability  of  the  species,'  as  opposed  to  the  Darwinian  theory — that 
which  brought  him  no  disgrace,  as  there  are  so  many  able  thinkers  on  both 
sides.  Our  Professor  Smith  referred  to  him  many  times  last  year  in  the 
department  of  mineralogy  and  geology,  and  always  in  commending  terms." 

Sunday  afternoon,  January  25,  1874:  "This  cold  spell  has  continued 
so  long  that  the  University  ice-houses  have  all  been  filled,  and  we  students 
have  enjoyed  much  skating  on  the  pond.  Several  of  the  more  venture- 
some broke  through  the  weak  spots,  greatly  to  their  discomfort,  but  noth- 
ing serious  happened.  A  number  of  ladies  also  have  participated  in  the 
sport  under  the  escort  of  experienced  friends— one  had  the  misfortune  of 
taking  the  cold  dip  with  her  beaux  companions,  but  was  not  intimidated, 
as  on  the  morrow  she  again  led  the  procession.  ...  It  was  so  cold 
this  morning  that  I  did  not  attend  church,  but  will  to-night,  as  the  Rev. 
Dr.  Fox  is  to  lecture  in  the  Public  Hall,  where  it  is  the  aim  of  the  Y.  M. 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  275 

C.  A.  to  have  one  lecture  a  month  by  some  distinguished  divine  of  the 
South,  thus  acquainting  us  students  with  their  personalities  and  original 
thoughts,  since  an  invitation  to  preach  here  stimulates  most  ministers  to 
do  their  best.  I  know  you  were  pleased  to  receive  the  photograph  of  Dr. 
McCosh  from  one  of  his  pupils.  Although  a  Scotchman  by  birth  and  edu- 
cation, barring  slight  pronunciations,  he  has  become  thoroughly  Amer- 
icanized, and  his  numerous  works  of  merit  have  served  to  increase  largely 
Princeton's  reputation.  Of  one  of  his  recent  books,  '  Christianity  and 
Positiveism,'  there  occurs  in  a  late  number  of  the  Southern  Review,  a 
criticism  by  Albert  Taylor  Bledsoe,  now  the  editor  of  that  journal,  but  for 
some  years  professor  of  mathematics  in  this  University — a  man  possessing 
a  mathematical  and  philosophical  mind,  broad  and  deep,  yet  little  tolera- 
tion for  opinions  and  theories  at  variance  with  those  he  believes  correct 
and  true.  As  I  have  before  me  a  copy  of  that  review  I  will  transcribe  a 
few  paragraphs :  '  Dr.  McCosh  in  his  preface  uses  this  sentiment :  "  A 
good  cause  must  have  its  martyrs  before  its  triumphs.  John  Brown  has 
to  be  put  to  death  before  the  manacles  are  struck  from  the  slave.  Your 
Abraham  Lincoln  is  shot  in  the  midst  of  the  shouts  of  victory — .  Verily, 
verily,  I  say  unto  you,  except  a  corn  of  wheat  fall  into  the  ground,  it 
abideth  alone ;  but  if  it  die,  it  bringeth  forth  much  fruit." '  Now  this  is 
Mr.  Bledsoe' s  reply :  '  We  humbly  confess  that  we  do  not  see  how  Abra- 
ham Lincoln's  death  was  necessary  to  the  "triumph  of  his  good  cause," 
especially  as  he  fell  amid  the  very  "  shouts  of  victory."  We  are  inclined 
also  to  doubt  the  propriety,  or  at  least  the  good  taste,  of  introducing  into 
a  defense  of  Christianity  the  death  of  John  Brown  as  a  martyr  to  the 
"  good  cause,"  seeing  that  he  was  guilty,  not  only  of  the  treasonable  de- 
sign of  overthrowing  the  Constitution  of  his  country,  ^  but  ajso  of  the 
crime  of  midnight  assassination,  for  which  he  was  fairly  tried  by  the 
laws,  condemned,  and  executed  as  a  criminal.  Is  it  not  sad,  inexpressibly 
sad,  that  a  horse  thief,  a  murderer,  and  a  traitor  should  be  sainted  as  a 
holy  martyr  to  the  "good  cause,"  and  that,  too,  by  a  philosopher  and 
Christian  divine?'0 

From  the  earliest  days  of  the  session  we  often  heard  of  the 
precarious  health  of  Mrs.  Venable,  understanding  her  trouble 
to  be  consumption  (phthisis  pulmonaris).  She  was  no  longer 
seen  out  with  the  Professor,  a  privilege  she  rarely  enjoyed 
during  the  previous  year,  but  instead  he  was  accompanied 
frequently  by  his  two  daughters,  then  about  nine  and  twelve 
years  of  age.  The  father  gave  every  evidence  of  that  care 
and  endearment  for  his  children,  so  essential  in  view  of  what 
he  alone  of  the  family  realized  must  be  the  inevitable  in  the 
near  future,  and  although  he  brightened  their  daily  paths  and 
lessened  their  childish  burdens  as  best  he  could,  yet  he  went 
his  way  visibly  depressed  by  a  palling  cloud.  The  increased 
cares  and  responsibilities  of  the  home  had  largely  been  the 
cause  of  his  relinquishing  the  Chairmanship  of  the  Faculty  the 
year  before,  and  now  to  the  outsider  he  seemed  each  day  more 
thoughtful  and  serious,  but  in  spite  of  all  he  continued  to  per- 


276  UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA 

form  the  exacting  duties  of  his  chair  in  an  imrelaxed  manner 
— struggling  to  shield  the  inward  feelings  from  students  and 
those  with  whom  he  came  in  contact.  The  end  came  Thurs- 
day morning,  January  I5th,  and  the  funeral  was  held  in  ac- 
cordance with  the  following: 

FUNERAL   NOTICE. 

The  funeral  of  Margaret  Cantey  McDowell,  wife  of  Prof.  Chas.  S. 
Venable,  will  take  place  from  his  residence,  at  the  University  of  Virginia, 
at  3  P.  M.,  to-morrow  (Friday).  The  friends  of  the  family  are  invited  to 
attend. 

January  I5th,  1874. 

All  lectures  were  suspended  on  Friday  and  the  students  at- 
tended the  funeral  in  a  body,  proceeding  thereafter  to  the 
University  Cemetery  for  the  interment.  The  day  was  dis- 
agreeable— damp,  cloudy,  penetrating — and  as  snow  had 
fallen  there  was  much  moisture  in  the  freshly  upturned  soil 
around  the  grave,  to  the  right  and  near  the  entrance  gate, 
where  I  took  a  position  of  advantage  in  full  view  and  hearing 
of  the  service  by  Rev.  Dr.  Woods. 

Home-letter,  Sunday  afternoon,  March  8th:  "I  attended  last  Tues- 
day the  funeral  of  a  former  professor,  Dr.  Henry  Howard,  who  held  the 
Chair  of  Medicine  here,  as  did  the  great  Robley  Dunglison,  for  thirty 
years,  but  since  the  War,  owing  to  age,  now  being  nearly  eighty-five, 
resigned  in  order  to  have  rest  and  no  work.  Since  then  he  has  boarded 
at  one  of  the  hotels  in  the  town,  busying  himself  little  with  worldly 
affairs  He  was  buried  in  the  University  Cemetery  by  the  side  of  his 
first  wife,  who  died  in  1843,  and  now  is  survived  by  his  second  wife.  By 
the  former  he  had  two  daughters,  who  in  turn  married  Professor  McGuf- 
fey,  whose  death  you  remember  occurred  nearly  a  year  ago.  The  pro- 
fessors' families  seem  to  believe  in  intermarrying — proverbial  propinquity 
— so  that  many  of  the  older  ones  are  related  in  some  way,  which  fortu- 
nately results  in  making  the  professorial  colony  one  large  family.  What  im- 
pressed me  most,  as  I  stood  by  his  open  grave,  was  the  small  number 
present,  and  especially  the  few  that  appeared  interested.  Professor  Ven- 
able and  several  other  teachers,  along  with  a  handful  of  students  and 
outside  friends,  made  up  the  full  complement,  so  that  I  could  scarcely 
comprehend  how  such  an  important  man  to  the  University  for  an  entire 
generation,  as  I  understood  him  to  be,  could  have  received  at  death  so 
little  marked  respect  and  expressed  sentiment."  .  .  . 

While  at  that  youthful  period  I  failed  to  comprehend  the 
slight  effect  of  Dr.  Howard's  death,  yet  now,  in  the  light  of 
experience,  the  solution  is  not  difficult — he  had  outlived  his 
generation,  as  only  a  small  portion  of  the  then  professors  had 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  277 

been  associated  directly  with  him,  and  none  for  the  past  ten 
years,  while  to  the  students  he  was  an  absolute  stranger — few 
ever  having  seen  or  heard  of  him — and  owing  to  age,  retire- 
ment and  living  beyond  his  cotemporaries,  there  remained 
scarcely  any  friends  having  in  him  special  interest.  Why  I 
should  have  been  one  of  those  present  I  fail  to  recall,  but 
distinctly  remember  seeing  the  funeral  notice  posted,  therefore 
fancy  I  attended  out  of  respect  to  what  he  had  been  to  the 
University,  as  I  knew  nothing  of  his  personality  and  reputa- 
tion until  after  his  death.  The  burial  lot  is  in  the  rear  portion 
of  the  Cemetery,  on  a  line  with  and  near  that  of  Professor 
McGuffey's,  and  his  grave  was  marked  shortly  afterwards  by 
a  simple  vertical  slab  bearing  the  inscription :  Henry  Howard, 
M.  D.  Born  in  Frederick  Co.,  Md.,  May  29,  1791.  Professor 
of  Medicine  in  the  University  of  Virginia,  1839-1867.  Died 
March  i,  1874.  "  Them  also  that  sleep  in  Jesus  shall  God 
bring  with  him." 

Home-letter,  Sunday  night,  March  isth :  "  I  have  seen  sufficient 
since  a  student  here  to  convince  md  of  our  standard  being  the  equal, 
if  not  superior,  of  any  other  American  college  or  university.  Two  of  our 
last  year's  graduates,  Wilson  and  Stover,  have  just  graduated  from 
Bellevue  Medical  College,  New  York  City,  after  a  five  months'  course, 
and  on  their  return  homeward  stopped  off  with  _us  to  see  old  friends 
and  to  give  an  account  of  themselves  since  leaving  here  last  summer. 
One  of  these  gentlemen  sat  at  my  table  for  several  meals  and  delighted 
us  in  substance  with  the  following:  I  reached  New  York  one  Wednesday 
night  last  fall,  and  on  the  next  day  visited  Bellevue,  where  I  interviewed 
several  professors,  telling  them  I  was  a  graduate  in  medicine — University 
of  Virginia — to  which  came  the  reply:  You  have  graduated  from  the 
best  medical  institution  of  this  country.  I  was  excused  from  attending 
lectures  on  chemistry,  anatomy  and  physiology,  as  well  as  examinations 
in  same,  but  this  latter  privilege  I  refused  to  accept,  desiring  to  make  in 
them  more  than  a  mere  passing  mark.  After  graduation  the  Virginia  boys 
were  congratulated  on  the  high  character  of  their  work  by  the  same  pro- 
fessors, who  stated  that,  all  things  considered,  their  papers  were  the  best 
out  of  the  eighty  graduates;  that  they  considered  it  an  honor  to  have 
University  of  Virginia  graduates,  and  that  they  would  always  be  received 
with  delight." 

Sunday  morning,  April  ipth :  "  We  continue  to  have  beautiful  spring 
weather,  and  I  often  feel  like  breaking  away  from  study  in  order  to 
tramp  the  hilly  paths  far  into  the  country,  where  I  could  remain  alone 
the  live-long  day  to  commune  with  nature.  This,  however,  might  prove 
an  unsafe  procedure,  as  something  would  be  missed  here,  and  at  this 
stage  of  the  session  one  can  afford  to  neglect  nothing.  .  .  .  Already 
many  show  evidence  of  that  dreaded  contagion — spring  fever — and  its 
cure  can  only  come  with  the  Final  Day — too  late  to  save  themselves  and 


278  UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA 

those  allured  by  their  winsome  charms.  .  .  .  Several  parties  recently 
have  insisted  upon  me  joining  them  in  another  visit  to  Monticello,  which 
I  intend  doing,  even  though  it  be  deferred  until  next  month,  when  many 
of  the  young  people  of  Charlottesville  make  their  annual  pilgrimage  to 
that  sacred  spot,  to  celebrate  May  Day  and  crown  the  selected  May  Queen. 
.  .  .  You  would  enjoy  reading  the  life  of  Mr.  Jefferson  by  his  great 
granddaughter — a  small  volume  containing  many  hitherto  unpublished 
letters,  and  good  illustrations  of  Mr.  Jefferson,  Mrs.  Jefferson,  the  Univer- 
sity and  Monticello  mansion,  including  diagram  of  its  first  floor  with 
location  of  furniture  and  ornaments.  I  read  it  the  early  part  of  last  ses- 
sion greatly  to  my  profit.  .  .  .  Professor  Peters  gave  us  a  cruel 
scathing  on  Friday,  emphasizing  our  deficiencies  and  lack  of  thoroughness. 
'  Whom  the  Gods  love  they  first  make  mad/  surely  is  verified  in  this  case, 
as  he  certainly  is  fond  of  us  all,  and  for  that  grieves  over  our  defects; 
it  seems  near  impossible  to  do  as  well  as  the  professors  desire,  conse- 
quently many  become  discouraged,  and  even  I  sometimes  feel  that  there 
will  be  few  regrets  when  '  Father  Time '  closes  this  session  as  an  irrev- 
ocable chapter — a  feeling  that  may  be  followed  by  bitter  remorse,  since 
the  passing  of  each  year  means  one  less  mile-stone  in  life  to  pass." 

Towards  the  last  of  March  politics  in  the  Jeff,  and  Wash. 
Societies  began  to  be  very  absorbing,  so  that  great  efforts 
were  directed  in  securing  new  members  and  having  old  ones 
renew  their  membership  at  a  reduced  fee  of  two  and  a  half 
dollars.  Many  of  us  became  much  interested  in  our  favorite 
candidates  for  the  honors,  and  worked  faithfully  to  increase 
our  numbers,  which  by  May  reached  in  the  Jeff,  one  hundred 
and  forty-three.  In  the  hope  of  mollifying  the  intense  feeling 
incident  to  these  canvasses  several  innovations  were  suggested, 
such  as  having  all  meetings  secret,  therefore  very  quiet,  of 
abolishing  the  medalist,  etc.,  but  all  upon  final  test  met  with 
defeat.  The  election  of  presidents  and  orators  took  place 
April  4th  and  of  medalists  May  2nd,  with  the  following  result : 
Jeff. — President,  Mr.  Frederick  F.  Reese,  Md. ;  Orator,  Mr. 
Roger  Johnson,  Va.,  who  resigning  was  succeeded  by  Mr. 
Mat.  W.  Ransom,  Jr.,  N.  Ca. ;  Medalist,  Mr.  James  E.  Pow- 
ell, Mo.  Wash. — President,  Mr.  Thomas  L.  Raymond,  La. ; 
Orator,  Mr.  Robert  S.  Saulsbury,  Ga. ;  Medalist,  Mr.  John 
St.  Clair  Brookes,  Va. 

Home-letter,  Sunday  night,  May  3rd:  "The  election  in  our  two 
societies  came  off  last  night,  consequently  I  retired  quite  late — it  being 
after  midnight  before  I  got  away  from  the  hall.  Many  of  the  members 
afterwards  enjoyed  a  champagne  and  beer  supper — the  meeting  of  ex- 
tremes— so  you  can  fancy  what  that  meant.  All  this  morning  things 
around  the  University  looked  unusually  dull,  as  scarcely  a  handful  of 
students  were  up  and  doing.  Mr.  Saulsbury,  of  Georgia,  is  to  be  the 


xggSSi     ~?r~~^  | 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  279 

orator  of  the  Wash.  His  father  is  a  cousin  of  our  Delaware  Saulsburys, 
and  the  young  man  himself  seems  a  fine  fellow — affable  and  quick  in  form- 
ing friends — so  that  we  feel  sure  his  speech  will  do  himself  and  the 
society  great  credit.  Mr.  Powell,  one  of  the  present  Magazine  editors, 
was  elected  medalist  in  my  society,  Jeff.,  winning  by  a  plurality  of  thirteen, 
which  is  considered  exceptionally  large.  In  his  efforts  at  thanks — thought 
by  some  very  good — he  made  an  introductory  somewhat  puerile  and  com- 
monplace, using  strange  similes  as  these :  '  I  feel  like  a  cow  in  a  parlor, 
a  junebug  on  skates,  etc/  But  with  it  all  he  managed  to  produce  much 
laughter,  and  finally  to  get  down  to  a  great  deal  of  serious  matter.  I 
supported  him,  and  he  is  very  popular  with  the  students." 

Sunday  morning,  May  24th:  "The  Episcopal  Convention  met  this 
week  in  Charlottesville,  consequently  gentlemen  of  the  clerical  cloth  have 
taken  possession  of  the  town  and  University  community.  This  body  is 
composed  of  delegates — many  conspicuous  and  prominent — from  several 
southern  states,  and  its  meeting  is  always  an  event  in  the  life  of  any 
place  it  may  select.  To-day,  both  morning  and  evening,  all  pulpits  of  the 
town,  irrespective  of  denomination,  will  be  filled  by  Episcopal  ministers — 
a  happy  circumstance  in  that  it  marks  the  liberality  in  thought  and  opinions 
of  our  age.  ...  A  circus  is  expected  this  week,  the  first  in  years, 
as  in  the  dim  past  a  student  was  killed  in  an  altercation  with  one  of  the 
circus  attaches,  thus  causing  such  shows  to  be  tabooed  ever  since  in  this 
section.  .  .  .  With  the  coming  of  longer  days  and  hot  weather  our 
supper  hour  has  been  changed  from  6  to  7  o'ck,  and  as  darkness  comes 
so  late  there  is  little  left  of  the  evening  for  study  before  the  sand-man 
puts  in  an  appearance." 

Sunday  afternoon,  June  I4th :  "  There  is  little  occurring  now  with 
us  worth  relating,  and  that  little  will  keep  easily  two  weeks,  when  I  can 
talk  it  over  in  person.  .  .  .  About  every  one  that  now  remains  is 
either  busy  making  ready  for,  or  standing  examinations.  Yesterday  was 
our  Latin — translation  and  meter — which  taxed  a  profound  knowledge  of 
the  language.  .  .  .  The  weather  is  still  very  hot,  but  some  relief 
comes  nearly  every  afternoon  through  a  thunder  storm,  which  fortunately 
serves  to  prevent  a  positive  spirit  of  indolence  and  indifference — at  best 
one  must  possess  a  fine  self-training  or  mastery  to  study  these  days." 

Commencement  this  year  began  Sunday,  June  28,  with  an 
address  in  the  morning  before  the  Young  Men's  Christian 
Association,  by  Rev.  Dr.  T.  D.  Witherspoon,  and  the  annual 
sermon  at  night  in  the  Public  Hall,  by  Rev.  Dr.  James  A. 
Duncan,  President  of  Randolph-Macon  College.  This  gentle- 
man was  rather  compactly  built,  well-proportioned,  smooth 
roundish  face,  clear  complexion  inclining  to  be  florid;  hair 
dark,  longer  than  the  rule  and  combed  back  from  the  forehead. 
His  voice  was  pleasant  and  sonorous,  language  full,  chaste  and 
elegant — speaking  without  manuscript  or  notes  to  the  delight 
of  every  one  present. 


280  UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA 

Monday  night — Wash.  Celebration.  After  prayer  by  Rev. 
S.  A.  Steel,  the  President,  Mr.  T.  L.  Raymond,  La.,  in  a 
felicitous  manner  introduced  the  Orator,  Mr.  R.  A.  Saulsbury, 
Ga.,  who  delighted  the  audience  upon  the  subject,  "  The  Char- 
acter of  the  Institutions  and  Celebrations  of  the  Ancients, 
Compared  with  Those -of  the  Present  Times."  The  President 
thereafter  presented  the  debater's  medal  to  Mr.  J.  St.  Clair 
Brookes,  Va.,  who  made  a  short  but  highly  appropriate  ac- 
knowledgment. 

Tuesday  night — Jeff.  Celebration.  After  prayer  by  Rev.  S. 
A.  Steel,  the  President,  Mr.  F.  F.  Reese,  Md.,  in  a  happy  vein 
introduced  the  Orator,  Mr.  M.  W.  Ransom,  Jr.,  N.  Ca.,  who 
discussed  intelligently,  "  The  Power  of  Will,  as  Illustrated  in 
the  Life  of  Napoleon  Bonaparte."  The  President  thereafter 
conferred  the  debater's  medal  upon  Mr.  J.  A.  Powell,  Mo., 
who  accepted  it  with  a  short  but  graceful  speech.  At  the  conclu- 
sion of  the  exercises  receptions  were  held  at  the  homes  of  Pro- 
fessors Peters  and  Schele,  where  hundreds  accepted  most 
generous  hospitality.  My  invitation  to  these  functions,  as 
usual,  came  through  the  mail  and  read  as  follows : 

"  Col.  and  Mrs.  Peters,  At  Home,  Monday  Evening,  June 
29th,  University." 

"  Mrs.  Schele  De  Vere  will  be  happy  to  see  Mr.  David  M.  R. 
Culbreth  at  her  reception  on  Monday  Evening,  June  29th. 
University,  June  iQth,  1874." 

Wednesday  morning — Alumni  Meeting.  Here  Major 
Green  Peyton  submitted  a  report  of  the  Committee  on  the 
Semi-Centennial  Celebration — next  year :  i,  That  the  Alumni 
have  two  orations  on  the  occasion  (the  Literary  Societies  dis- 
pensing with  their  usual  address). 

2,  That  Hon.  R.  M.  T.  Hunter  (a  member  of  the  first  class 
that  ever  matriculated  at  the  University)  be  invited  to  make 
the  historical  address;  that  Gen.  John  S.  Preston  (one  of  the 
earliest  students)  be  invited  to  deliver  an  address,  and  that 
Daniel  B.  £ucas,  Esq.,  of  Jefferson  County,  be  invited  to  com- 
pose a  poem  suitable  to  the  occasion. 

3,  That  a  catalogue  of  all  the  Alumni  from  the  foundation 
of  the  University  be  prepared  by  the  time  of  the  celebration. 

4,  That  a  central  committee  be  appointed  of  which  the  presi- 
dents of  all  the  clubs  shall  be  ex-officio  members,  and  that  they 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  281 

shall  have  charge  of  the  arrangements  and  devise  the  measures 
necessary  to  raise  the  funds  needed. 

Wednesday  night — Joint  Celebration.  The  audience  was 
large  and  brilliant,  attracted  chiefly  by  the  great  desire  to  see 
and  hear  Father  Ryan,  the  priest  and  poet  in  which  all  were 
doomed  to  disappointment,  as  on  the  previous  day  he  tele- 
graphed from  Albany,  N.  Y.,  where  he  had  been  taken  ill  sud- 
denly, that  he  would  be  unable  to  fill  his  appointment — a  fact 
unknown  generally.  After  prayer,  the  Chairman  of  the  Joint 
Committee,  Mr.  Frank  P.  Brent,  Va.,  expressed  to  the  multi- 
tude the  universal  regret  at  the  absence  of  Father  Ryan,  but  a 
high  sense  of  gratification  in  being  able  to  present  such  a 
worthy  substitute  in  the  personage  of  a  great  Virginian, 
scholar,  orator  and  patriot — Hon.  John  Goode,  of  Norfolk. 

Mr.  Goode  expressed  deep  sympathy  with  the  audience  in 
the  disappointment  of  the  expected  speaker,  to  the  hearing 
of  whom  he  himself  had  looked  forward  with  so  much  pleasure, 
but  in  spite  of  deficient  oratorical  powers  he  could  not  refuse 
the  unexpected  call  made  upon  him  last  night  by  the  young 
men  to  play  substitute,  and  therefore  stood  in  recognition  of 
their  wishes  and  the  high  compliment  they  had  paid  him.  He 
queried,  what  he  should  say  in  the  halls  of  this  noble  Uni- 
versity— in  the  presence  of  their  able  teachers — and  to  those 
young  men  who  are  about  to  go  forth  to  the  great  battle  of 
life?  He  ought  to  be  able  to  catch  inspiration  from  the  bril- 
liant scene  before  him  and  the  hallowed  associations  of  the 
spot  on  which  he  stood,  and  to  speak  with  more  accustomed 
fervor  on  the  theme  he  had  chosen,  "  The  Claims  of  the  South 
on  her  educated  young  men.*'  He  gave  a  vivid  sketch  of  the 
condition  and  wants  of  the  South  since  the  war;  spoke  of  the 
peculiar  responsibilities  of  those  who  live  in  this  age  of 
material  progress,  but  insisted  that  the  greatness  of  a  State 
depends  upon  the  character  of  its  people;  vividly  and  scath- 
ingly rebuked  the  political  and  social  corruptions  of  the  times, 
and  eloquently  exhorted  the  young  men  to  avoid  these  cor- 
ruptions, to  appreciate  their  obligations  to  the  land  of  their 
birth,  and  to  meet  with  brave  hearts  the  duty  of  the  hour. 
While  denying  that  the  sword  can  ever  settle  abstract  rights, 
he  brought  out  the  point  that  the  late  war  had  settled  that  we 
are  to  have  but  one  nationality,  and  eloquently  urged  that  we 


282  UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA 

should  imitate  the  example  of  our  immortal  chieftain,  General 
Lee,  think  it  no  dishonor  to  follow  where  he  led,  and  having 
acknowledged  our  allegiance  to  the  American  Constitution,  to 
remember  that  we  have  duties  as  American  citizens.  He 
would  not  counsel  the  young  men  to  enter  upon  the  devious 
paths  of  politics,  but  he  would  exhort  them  to  meet  their  full 
share  of  the  responsibility  in  stemming  the  tide  of  centraliza- 
tion now  setting  in,  and  to  bring  the  country  to  the  Con- 
stitution as  our  fathers  framed  it.  He  next  discussed  what 
these  young  men  could  do;  and  eloquently  insisted  that  noth- 
ing is  necessary  to  lift  the  South  from  the  dust  and  restore 
her  to  pristine  glory  and  greatness  but  a  resolute  purpose  and 
earnest  effort  on  the  part  of  her  sons.  If  the  young  men  who 
are  now  entering  upon  the  theater  of  life  will  determine  not 
to  shrink  from  honest  toil;  if  they  will  seek  employment,  not 
only  in  the  learned  professions,  but  in  the  useful  departments 
of  commerce,  mechanics  and  agriculture;  if  they  will  carry 
into  these  departments  not  only  strong  arms  and  stout  hearts, 
but  skilled  labor,  trained  intellect,  and  incorruptible  integrity; 
if  they  will  imitate  the  primitive  simplicity  and  old-fashioned 
homely  virtues  of  their  ancestors — in  a  word,  if  they  will  ex- 
hibit the  same  high  qualities  in  peace  which  illustrates  tlje 
conduct  of  their  elder  brothers  in  war,  our  beloved  South  will 
once  more  "  bloom  and  blossom  like  the  rose."  In  conclusion, 
he  noticed  the  splendid  advantages  which  the  young  men  of 
this  University  had  enjoyed,  and  exhorted  them  that  in  going 
forth  to  meet  their  obligations :  they  should  first  seek  that  best 
of  all,  wisdom,  which  "  cometh  down  from  above."  Mr. 
Goode  was  interrupted  frequently  by  applause  and  took  his 
seat  amid  wild  plaudits  of  the  audience. 

At  once  followed  loud  and  continuous  calls  for  Gen.  Jubal 
A.  Early,  who  was  seated  upon  the  stage — an  ovation  that 
caused  him  to  respond  somewhat  hesitatingly :  "  I  came  here 
not  to  take  public  part  in  these  exercises,  but  to  listen  to  that 
orator  and  poet  priest,  who  has  done  so  much  in  prose  and 
verse  to  perpetuate  and  keep  green  the  memory  of  our  noble 
Confederate  dead.  I  have  listened  with  very  great  pleasure 
to  the  eloquent  words  of  my  friend  from  Norfolk,  and  his 
sentiments  of  love  to  the  Commonwealth  found  an  echo  in 
my  heart.  After  thanking  his  hearers  for  the  high  and  un- 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  283 

expected  compliment  they  had  paid  him,  he  would  only  detain 
them  to  say  (though  he  could  not  say  it  in  the  eloquent  words 
of  the  great  statesman  who  had  uttered  the  same  sentiment  last 
summer) — that  he  had  hope  for  the  country  so  long  as  we 
have  so  many  noble  women  to  strew  with  flowers  the  graves 
of  our  martyred  dead,  and  to  teach  to  coming  generations  the 
principles  for  which  they  died.  For  myself  I  have  faith  in  the 
women,  and  in  their  ability  as  well  as  willingness  to  preserve 
our  principles.  And  if  this  be  treason,  then  they  may  make 
the  most  of  it."  The  General  from  his  first  sentence  caught 
the  sympathy  of  the  multitude  and  sat  down  amid  the  loudest 
applause. 

The  Magazine  medal  was  then  conferred  by  Professor 
Southall  upon  Mr.  William  W.  Thum,  Ky.,  author  of  the  suc- 
cessful article,  "  The  Death  of  Marlowe,"  who  acknowledged 
it  in  a  short  but  graceful  speech  that,  coupled  with  his  youth- 
ful size  and  appearance,  elicited  rounds  of  demonstration.  At 
the  conclusion  of  the  exercises  a  reception  was  held  at  Pro- 
fessor Mallet's,  where  many  journeyed,  while  others  mean- 
dered the  Lawn  and  byways  in  the  sound  of  delightful  music. 

Thursday  morning — Commencement  or  Final  Day.  At  10 
o'ck,  the  entire  University  contingent,  including  many 
strangers,  assembled  in  the  Public  Hall  for  the  usual  conferring 
of  diplomas  and  certificates  of  proficiency — an  exercise  that 
lasted  about  two  hours.  This  over,  together  with  a  short  in- 
termission, we  all  reassembled  at  i  o'ck,  to  hear  the  very 
able  address  before  the  Alumni  Society,  by  Judge  Kennard 
of  New  Orleans,  La. 

That  afternoon  I  arranged  for  leaving  on  the  late  train, 
and  after  supper  loafed  with  a  few  companions  until  the  Ball 
began,  where  I  spent  several  hours  very  delightfully — those 
even  to  this  day  pleasant  to  recall. 

Inasmuch  as  fifty  years  had  rolled-by  since  the  University 
was  opened  for  instruction,  March  7,  1825,  the  second  page 
of  this  year's  catalogue,  session  1873-74,  contained  the  fol- 
lowing announcement: 

SEMI-CENTENNIAL   CELEBRATION 

In  the  year  1875  the  University  of  Virginia  will  have  been  in  opera- 
tion fifty  years,  and  it  is  proposed  to  celebrate  the  event  in  a  becoming 


284  UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA 

manner.  Due  notice  will  be  given  of  the  time  and  manner  of  celebrating 
the  anniversary,  and  all  former  students  of  the  University  are  cordially 
and  urgently  requested  to  be  present. 

SEMI-CENTENNIAL    CATALOGUE 

A  catalogue  of  all  students  who  have  attended  lectures  at  the  University 
of  Virginia  during  the  last  fifty  years  is  in  course  of  preparation.  It 
will  contain,  not  merely  their  names  and  course  of  study,  but  also  short 
notices  of  their  subsequent  career.  All  who  can  furnish  information  tend- 
ing to  make  the  list  in  any  way  more  complete  and  valuable  are  re- 
quested to  send  it  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Faculty. 

In  spite  of  this  great  prospective  event  in  the  history  of  the 
University,  the  session  of  1874-75  differed  little  from  those 
that  immediately  preceded  or  followed,  as  students  according 
to  custom  went  their  busy  way,  intent  solely  upon  daily  duties, 
apparently  unmindful  of  any  "  casting  of  shadows  before." 
It  is  true,  however,  that  the  numbers  were  increased  slightly 
over  the  few  previous  years ;  that  several  fraternities  held  con- 
ventions and  reunions,  bringing  together  from  distant  parts 
men  of  more  or  less  reputation,  and  that  the  Young  Men's 
Christian  Association  had  an  unusual  list  of  distinguished 
divines  to  make  public  addresses,  but  otherwise  the  session  was 
unmarked  until  the  Ides  of  Commencement. 

The  first  memorable  event  came  early  in  the  session,  Sun- 
day night,  October  nth,  when  the  venerable  "  blind  preacher," 
Rev.  Dr.  W.  H.  Milburn,  for  many  years  chaplain  to  Con- 
gress, delivered  a  most  impressive  discourse  upon,  "  Vanity  of 
vanities,  saith  the  preacher  (vanity  of  vanities) ;  all  is 
vanity."  During  the  week  he  also  gave  a  series  of  sermons 
in  Charlottesville,  which  attracted  multitudes  that  were 
charmed  by  his  matchless  oratory,  rare  descriptive  powers,  and 
profound  familiarity  with  the  sacred  writings. 

On  Thursday  night,  October  1 5th,  the  Delta  Kappa  Epsilon 
fraternity,  in  annual  convention,  held  an  open  session  in  the 
Public  Hall,  which  was  attended  by  most  of  the  students  and 
many  visitors  to  their  unbounded  delight.  Here  for  the  first 
time  the  majority  had  the  pleasure  of  seeing  and  hearing  the 
two  literary  celebrities — Bayard  Taylor  and  Daniel  B.  Lucas. 
The  former  gentleman  presided  at  the  meeting,  and  seemed  to 
be  about  fifty  years  of  age  with  Teutonic  characteristics — pos- 
sessing a  commanding  appearance  and  physique,  kind  frank 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  285 

face  covered  largely  with  moustache  and  beard,  good  suit  of 
hair  inclining  to  be  curly,  an  affable  smile  and  pleasant  man- 
ner. His  address  was  the  embodiment  of  eloquence  and  ora- 
tory, his  language  inspiring,  chaste  and  simple,  his  delivery 
easy  and  graceful,  and  his  tribute  to  youth  highly  encourag- 
ing, especially  in  the  sentences :  "  Rivalry  in  the  race  of  dis- 
tinction, friendship  that  wholly  confides  and  believes  itself 
eternal,  manly  honor  and  honesty — these  are  no  illusions! 
Let  the  cynic  sneer  and  the  philosopher  smile!  We  will 
cherish  these  attributes  of  youth  until  they  turn  age  itself  into 
an  illusion." 

After  this  came  an  oration  by  Mr.  Henry  Wickham,  outlin- 
ing the  principles  and  aims  of  the  Fraternity,  which,  to  every 
one's  delight,  was  followed  by  a  song  of  the  muse — a  poem, 
"  The  Love  of  Letters/*  by  Mr.  Daniel  B.  Lucas,  a  gifted 
gentleman,  our  University's  product,  who  had  only  come 
home  to  bow  at  the  mother's  knee,  as  he  again  did  several 
months  later  at  the  Semi-Centennial,  and  to  add  fresh  garlands 
to  his  favorite  temple  of  knowledge.  He  was  about  forty 
years  of  age,  possessing  a  large  head  covered  with  a  heavy 
suit  of  hair  parted  on  the  left  and  brushed  upward ;  broad  fore- 
head and  cheekbones,  square  broad  chin,  thick  moustache. 
Unfortunately  his  body  was  dwarfed  somewhat  through  a 
permanent  spinal  injury  produced  in  infancy,  by  the  proverbial 
fall  from  a  negro  nurse's  arms.  A  few  stanzas  may  well  be 
reproduced  here: 

Peace  to  affairs  of  State,  and  sale  of  gold, 

Silent  the  busy  hum  of  wheel  on  wheel 
We  sing  to-night  these  great  High  Priests  of  old, 

Who  wrote  and  sang,  and  taught  mankind  to  think,  and  feel! 

Praised  be  our  Goddess!  and  her  altars  crown 

With  secret  rite,  and  revelry,  and  feast, 
Till  powers,  to  her,  and  potentates  fall  down 

Like  Agamemnon  to  Apollo's  priest! 

And  here,  beneath  the  shelter  of  her  wings, 
Our  gifts  of  song,  and  speech,  and  pen  are  brought; 

For  books  are  more  than  multitudes  or  kings, 
And  Letters  are  the  Avatars  of  thought.* 

The  method  of  electing  the  Final  officers  in  the  Jeff,  and 
Wash.  Societies  at  last  became  so  discreditable  and  unsatis- 


286  .  UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA 

factory  that  at  a  Faculty  meeting,  November  2nd,  the  follow- 
ing regulations  were  adopted :  "  Whereas  it  is  made  the  duty 
of  the  Faculty  to  regulate  the  public  exercises  of  this  institu- 
tion ;  and  whereas  the  working  of  the  present  method  of  elect- 
ing the  representatives  of  the  Societies  is  unsatisfactory,  the 
Faculty  deem  it  due  to  the  interest  of  the  University  and  the 
welfare  of  the  Societies  to  appoint  the  following  plan  of  select- 
ing the  orators  and  medalists  for  the  final  celebration :  At  one 
of  the  meetings  in  November,  each  Society  shall  appoint  a  com- 
mittee of  five  members  to  select  three  members  of  the  Faculty 
for  each  Society,  to  act  in  the  character  of  an  electoral  commit- 
tee, to  select  the  final  orators  and  medalists  of  the  Societies. 
The  electoral  committee  shall  attend  at  least  four  meetings  of 
the  Societies — say  one  in  January,  one  in  February,  and  two 
in  March — after  the  last  of  which  the  selection  of  medalist  and 
orator  of  each  Society  shall  be  made  from  the  debaters  and 
speakers  of  the  Societies  by  the  electoral  committee.  The 
selection  of  medalists  and  orators  by  the  electoral  committee 
shall  be  final." 

These  regulations  were  addressed  to  each  society,  and  rati- 
fied by  overwhelming  majorities — the  Jeff,  selecting  Profes- 
sors Cabell,  Smith  and  Southall — the  Wash. :  Professors 
Holmes,  Venable,  and  J.  S.  Davis. 

As  I  glance  back  to  those  turbulent  days  and  society  elec- 
tion-nights prior  to  this  new  regime  I  fail  to  recall  the  inau- 
guration of  a  more  salutary  change,  or  one  hailed  with  greater 
delight  by  the  better  thinking  students.  For  while  it  was  true 
that  the  presidents  were  still  to  be  elected  by  the  members,  the 
severity  of  the  contest  had  been  minimized  by  delegating  to 
wiser  heads  the  filling  of  the  most  responsible  positions — those 
that  formerly  had  caused  endless  contention  and  strife. 

Our  chaplain,  Rev.  Dr.  S.  A.  Steel,  took  unto  himself  a 
life  partner,  November  5th,  the  fortunate  lady  being  Miss 
Mollie  Burns,  of  Petersburg,  where  the  ceremony  was  per- 
formed. 

An  event  that  cast  a  gloom  over  the  University  community 
for  a  period  was  the  sickness  and  death,  November  7th,  of  Mrs. 
Margaret  N.  Cabell,  wife  of  our  much  beloved  Dr.  Cabell. 
She  was  a  lady  possessing  many  sterling  qualities — unusual 
grace  of  person,  mind  and  heart,  whose  every  instinct  implied 


FACING    286 


President  Edwin  A.  Alderman,  LIv.D.,  at  forty-four 
1861— 

Inaugurated  April  13,  1905 

See  page  349 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  287 

that  which  was  noble,  generous  and  elevating.  Her  funeral 
was  attended  largely  by  the  student-body  and  those  who  treas- 
ured highly  a  friendship  in  life.  The  interment  was  in  the 
University  Cemetery  by  whose  side  her  venerable  husband 
was  laid  a  quarter  of  a  century  later. 

In  accordance  with  the  spirit  of  the  Faculty's  decision,  the 
two  Literary  Societies  at  one  of  their  meetings  in  December 
announced  the  dates,  subjects,  and  participants  for  the  de- 
bater's medals : 

Jeff. — January  i6th.    Was  the  execution  of  Lord  Stafford  justifiable? 
February  27th.    Do  the  advantages  of  war  compensate  for  its  evils? 
March  27th.    Does  general  education  promote  public  morality? 
April  23rd.     Was  the  institution  of  chivalry  beneficial  to  civilization? 
Contestants:    Messrs.  J.  R.  McD.  Irby,  Leo.  N.  Levi,  G.   S.   Smith, 
Lyon  G.  Tyler,  W.  D.  White. 

Wash. — January  23rd.     Is  the  example  of  the  United  States,  according  to 

present    appearances,    likely   to    increase   the    favor    of   mankind 

toward  Republican  government? 

February  27th.     Does  morality  increase  with  increase  of  civilization? 
March  2Oth.    Were  the  charges  of  Lord  Macaulay  against  the  Duke  of 

Marlborough   just? 
April  i6th.    Has  the  law  of  primogeniture,  been  productive  of  more 

good  than  evil  to  society? 
Contestants:     Messrs.  T.  E.  Blakey,  I.  R.  Faisen,  H.  J.  Huck,  J.  E. 

Mason,  C.   E.  Nicol,  A.  D.   Pace,  H.  C   Stuart,  N.  E.  Yasser, 

N.  S.  Walton,  A.  M.  West. 


CHAPTER   XV 
INCIDENTS  AND  COMMENCEMENT  OF  SESSION  1874-75 

Session  1874-75  continued.  Address  of  Rev.  Dr.  Randolph  H.  McKim: 
Selection  of  Jeff,  and  Wash,  officers.  Sermon  by  Rev.  Dr.  Robert  L. 
Dabney.  Sermon  by  Rev.  Dr.  R.  N.  Sledd.  Typhoid  epidemic ;  Base- 
ball games.  Commencement — Semi-Centennial  Celebration:  Sermon 
by  Rev.  Dr.  W.  T.  Brantly;  Wash.  Celebration— Geo.  Ben.  Johnston, 
Henry  C  Stuart,  Charles  E.  Nicol ;  Jeff.  Celebration— Benj.  Fitzpat- 
rick,  A.  M.  Robinson,  Leo.  N.  Levi.  Alumni  Celebration — Daniel 
B.  Lucas,  Gen.  Jubal  A.  Early,  Robert  M.  T.  Hunter ;  Commencement 
Day — Gen.  John  S.  Preston ;  Alumni  Banquet ;  Final  Ball,  etc. 

ON  Sunday  night,  January  3ist,  Rev.  Dr.  Randolph  H.  Mc- 
Kim, a  distinguished  alumnus — one  who  had  seen  active  serv- 
ice in  the  Civil  War — delivered  the  sermon  before  the  Young 
Men's  Christian  Association  in  the  chapel  to  a  packed  audience 
composed  of  students  and  the  University  colony.  His  theme 
was,  "  False  Views  of  Life  and  a  True  One,"  which  beyond 
able  composition  and  thought  had  a  delivery  of  rare  force  and 
strength,  inasmuch  as  few  approximate,  far  less  equal,  that 
speaker's  manner  and  personality — both  lending  a  charm  of 
sincereness  and  power  that  carried  conviction.  He  was  at 
that  time  Rector  of  Old  Christ  Church,  Alexandria,  Va.,  but 
during  the  year  received  a  call  to  a  more  important  field  in 
New  York  City;  about  thirty-five  years  of  age,  tall — at  least 
six  feet  one  inch — compactly  built  without  superfluous  flesh, 
weighing  one  hundred  and  ninety  pounds.  His  face  was 
bright,  reflective  and  observant;  chin  and  upper  lip  smooth, 
but  side  whiskers  cut  well  back ;  strong  nose  and  forehead ; 
enunciation  clear,  deliberate,  earnest  and  engaging ;  voice  deep, 
rich,  sonorous  and  delightful.  As  this  was  the  only  sermon 
published  during  the  session,  we  give  here  a  few  excerpts: 
I  am  to  speak  to  young  men,  before  whom  the  vision  of  life 
has  just  opened — who  are  indeed  standing  already  upon  the 
shores,  and  looking  out  upon  its  sparkling  waters,  eager  to 
launch  forth  upon  them — and  it  shall  be  my  effort  to  expose 
the  unseaworthiness  of  some  of  the  vessels  in  which  young 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  289 

men  are  tempted  to  embark  in  life,  and  to  indicate  one  to  which 
I  think  a  man  may  commit  himself  with  a  fair  prospect  of 
reaching  safe  harbor  at  last.  The  purpose  of  life  is  what  I 
call  the  vessel  to  which  he  commits  his  fortunes,  and  in  which 
he  launches  out  when  he  leaves  the  university.  A  mistake 
here  may  be  fatal,  at  least  productive  of  great  loss.  Mere 
pastime  or  pleasure  is  not  the  proper  end  of  existence — it  is  a 
leaky  vessel  that  must  be  abandoned  with  the  toys  of  the 
nursery — for  the  first  results  of  liberal  culture  is  to  emancipate 
the  mind  and  heart  from  the  dominion  of  the  senses.  Nor 
is  the  accumulation  of  wealth  the  proper  end  of  existence — 
it  also  is  a  leaky  vessel,  that  gauges  our  civilization  by  its 
material  rather  than  its  intellectual  and  moral  development, 
that  suffers  virtue,  integrity,  public  and  private  honesty  to 
decline  for  material  prosperity.  All  the  lessons  of  history,  the 
records  of  past  valor  and  patriotism,  the  evidence  furnished 
by  the  remotest  ages  of  their  perpetual  effort  to  escape  the 
bondage  of  mere  material  things,  in  order  to  pursue  the  ideal 
image  of  truth  and  beauty  and  goodness  which  has  floated  like 
an  angelic  vision  before  the  soul  and  has  captivated  its  deepest 
affections — these  elements  of  university  culture,  to  say  nothing 
of  the  study  of  mental  and  moral  philosophy,  exercise  a  most 
potent  influence  against  the  materialistic  idea  of  life.  The 
seeking  of  material  happiness  is  not  the  end  of  human  life,  for 
its  unsoundness  must  be  apparent  at  a  glance.  A  civilized  com- 
munity must  rest  on  a  large  realized  capital  of  thought  and 
sentiment;  there  must  be  a  reserved  fund  of  public  morality 
to  draw  upon  in  the  exigencies  of  national  life. 

Society  has  a  soul  as  well  as  a  body;  the  traditions  of  a 
nation  are  part  of  its  existence.  Its  valor  and  its  discipline, 
its  religion,  faith,  venerable  laws,  science  erudition,  poetry, 
art,  eloquence  and  scholarship,  are  as  much  portions  of  its 
existence  as  its  agriculture,  commerce,  and  engineering  skill. 
Happiness  is  an  incident  in  life,  not  the  object  of  it — a  way- 
side flower,  not  a  parlor  exotic.  If  sought  for  its  own  sake, 
it  will  mock  us  like  the  mirage  in  the  desert ;  but  if  a  man  have 
chosen  a  Noble  Aim  to  lead  him,  Moses-like,  through  life,  his 
happiness  will  follow,  as  the  smitten  rock  followed  the  Israel- 
ites through  the  wilderness,  and  ever  and  anon,  as  he  journeys 
forward,  will  open  for  him  its  crystal  fountains.  Nor  do  I 


290  UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA 

consider  culture — education,  intellectualism — the  meaning  and 
object  of  life,  for  it  is  a  leaky  vessel  of  which  a  man  should 
beware,  if  he  would  not  make  shipwreck  of  the  most  precious 
part  of  the  cargo  of  life. .  The  moral  powers  and  spiritual 
faculties  are  nobler  and  command  higher  consideration  than 
the  intellectual,  since  the  latter  implies  the  culture  of  self,  by 
self  and  for  self,  the  former  not  self-culture,  but  self-sacrifice. 
Human  life  is  not  complete  in  itself,  it  is  a  fragment  of  another 
life — the  germ  out  of  which  that  life  is  to  be  developed.  That 
which  we  call  life  is  but  the  introduction  to  life — the  Porch 
of  the  Temple — and  not  only  so,  the  Temple  will  be  in  keep- 
ing with  the  Porch.  The  life  that  now  is  shall  determine  the 
life  that  is  to  come;  it  is  this  that  gives  such  inestimable  value 
to  the  brief  span  of  human  existence — a  shadow  that  flits 
across  the  dial-plate  of  Time,  a  frail  flower  soon  to  be  cut 
down ;  but  what  seeds  has  it  left  in  the  soil  for  eternal  germina- 
tion? 

Our  life  stands  related  to  the  Author  of  Life,  and  being  his 
gift  it  is  reasonable  to  suppose  it  must  be  used  with  a  view 
to  His  good  pleasure.  What  was  the  Divine  purpose  in  be- 
stowing life?  What  is  the  Divine  idea  of  its  significance? 
Life  is  God's  training-school  for  human  souls — a  University 
in  which  man  is  to  become  fitted  to  enter  upon  a  higher  and 
better  life  hereafter.  It  has  many  schools,  and  the  Divine 
Educator  places  each  in  those  which  are  best  suited  to  his 
nature  and  his  destiny.  According  to  this  view,  the  great 
guiding  principle  and  aim  in  life  should  be  to  submit  ourselves 
to  this  Divine  will,  to  receive  and  obey  the  Divine  teaching. 
In  the  University  of  Life,  the  Great  Educator  has  room  for 
all — there  is  a  place  for  each,  and  none  is  left  out.  The  cul- 
ture here  of  first  importance  is  character.  Misfortunes,  re- 
verses, disappointments  do  not  overturn  the  purpose  of  life; 
rather  they  help  it  forward,  for,  under  this  sharp  discipline, 
character  is  matured;  and  that  is  the  human  side  of  the 
purpose  of  life,  that  is  God's  purpose  for  the  disciples  in  His 
school.  Death  does  not  prematurely  arrest  the  educational 
process,  but  only  calls  the  faithful  student  to  an  upper  form, 
to  a  higher  school. 

Let  the  great  thought  of  God  come  into  your  life !  It  will 
be  like  the  light  of  morning  upon  the  landscape.  Then  you 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  291 

will  perceive  that  there  is  nothing  irrelevant,  or  purposeless, 
or  insignificant  in  life;  that  study,  business,  labor,  recreation, 
riches,  poverty,  sickness,  health,  prosperity,  adversity,  success, 
and  failure,  are  all  parts  of  a  Divine  plan  by  which  the  great 
educational  process  is  carried  on.  Let  me  remind  you,  how- 
ever, as  in  this  University,  so  in  the  University  of  Life,  the 
learner  must  co-operate  with  the  teacher.  God's  plan  of  train- 
ing is  to  give  every  learner  in  His  great  school  a  work  to  do 
— "  to  every  man  his  own  work."  God  has  a  place  and  a 
work  for  each  one  of  you — let  it  be  your  first  and  chief  care 
to  find  it,  and,  having  found  it,  to  do  it.  There  is  no  such 
thing  as  incompetence  or  incapacity  here.  You,  and  you  alone, 
are  competent  to  do  the  work  God  has  appointed  you  to  do. 
You  may  each  differ  in  talents,  but  they  are  God's  gifts,  be- 
stowed to  qualify  men  for  the  work  He  designs  them  to  do; 
and  consequently  no  man  has  more  than  enough  ability  to  do 
his  work,  nor  has  any  man  too  little  to  do  it. 

There  are  two  thoughts  which  should  stimulate  every  one  to 
grapple  earnestly  with  the  work  of  life: 

1.  That  in  doing,  each  his  own  work,  "we  are  laborers  to- 
gether with  God." 

2.  That  the  Divine  Educator  bestows  His  rewards,  not  ac- 
cording to  natural  talents,   nor  even   according  to  positive 
achievements,  as  must  generally  be  the  case  in  our  schools, 
but  according  to  the  fidelity  with  which  each  has  labored. 

If  then  your  life-work  is  to  be  a  success  in  any  true  and  high 
sense  of  the  word,  it  must  draw  its  inspiration  from  the  Cross 
of  Christ,  for  only  there  can  the  spirit  of  man  be  rid  of  the 
tyrannous  bondage  of  self,  and  made  free  to  work  for  God 
and  Truth  alone.  ' 

On  Sunday  night,  February  28th,  Rev.  J.  William  Jones 
delivered  a  lecture  in  the  Public  Hall  on  the  "  Character  of 
'  Stonewall '  Jackson,  in  its  religious  aspects,"  when  the  large 
and  appreciative  audience  seemed  thoroughly  delighted  at  the 
many  related  evidences  of  the  great  soldier's  moral  and  reli- 
gious life. 

The  two  Literary  Societies  elected  their  Final  Presidents  on 
Saturday  night,  April  3rd,  and  in  the  few  weeks  preceding  not 
a  little  of  the  old  time  party  spirit  and  favoritism  were  de- 
veloped, but  nothing  in  comparison  to  what  had  prevailed  in 


292  UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA 

former  years.  The  honor  in  the  Jeff,  fell  to  Mr.  Benj.  Fitz- 
patrick,  Ala.,  and  in  the  Wash,  to  Mr.  Geo.  Ben.  Johnson,  Va. 
A  short  time  thereafter  the  "  Electoral  Committees  of  the 
Faculty  "  rendered  their  decisions,  in  reference  to  those  so- 
ciety members  deserving  honors,  as  follows:  Jeff. — Medalist, 
Mr.  Leo  N.  Levi,  Texas;  Orator,  Mr.  L.  G.  Tyler,  Va.,  who 
resigning,  the  Society  elected  Mr.  A.  M.  Robinson,  Texas. 
Wash.— Medalist,  Mr.  C.  E.  Nicol,  Va. ;  Orator,  Mr.  H.  C. 
Stuart,  Va. 

The  distinguished  scholar  and  Presbyterian  divine,  Rev.  Dr. 
Robert  L.  Dabney,  Professor  at  Hampden-Sidney  College,  de- 
livered the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  sermon  for  April  in  the  chapel  before 
a  large  and  appreciative  audience.  The  Doctor  had  a  son,  Mr. 
Charles  W.  Dabney,  then  attending  the  University,  while  he 
himself  had  graduated  therefrom  with  highest  honors  a  gen- 
eration before,  had  been  chaplain  to  "  Stonewall  "  Jackson's 
command,  and  was  recognized  throughout  the  South  as  a  pro- 
found theological  thinker  as  well  as  an  exceptional  speaker. 

The  sermon  for  May  before  the  Young  Men's  Christian  As- 
sociation was  given  by  Rev.  R.  N.  Sledd,  of  Petersburg,  his 
subject  being,  "  The  Witch  of  Endor,"  in  which  he  defined 
clearly  and  forcibly  his  position  on  modern  spiritualism,  mak- 
ing all  who  heard  him  delighted  with  his  eloquence  and  descrip- 
tive powers. 

In  early  April  typhoid  fever  broke  out  among  the  students, 
which  happily  was  checked  in  time  to  prevent  a  serious  epi- 
demic, but  not  until  a  number  had  suffered  weeks  of  sickness 
and  a  few  sacrificed  their  lives,  causing  the  mortality  to  exceed 
that  of  all  my  other  sessions  combined.  The  prevalence  of 
this  malady  made  those  with  aches  and  pains  unusually  ap- 
prehensive, so  that  some  tarried  not  for  developments  but 
hastened  home,  where,  in  event  of  something  dangerous,  they 
migfht  have,  according  to  their  belief,  the  best  attention  and 
skill.  In  most  of  these  cases  it  was  a  needless  alarm,  so  that 
some  returned  for  the  last  few  weeks  of  the  session  and  the 
Semi-Centennial  Celebration. 

On  May  I4th,  a  very  spirited  game  of  baseball  took  place  on 
our  grounds  between  the  Washington  and  Lee  and  our  own 
(Monticello)  nines,  in  which  we  were  victorious  by  a  score 
of  27  to  21.  At  night  the  visitors  were  given  an  enjoyable 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  293 

supper  down  town,  Daniel  Brothers,  where  delicious  solids, 
liquids,  and  gases  (speeches)  were  indulged  in  until  a  very  late 
hour. 

The  Commencement  this  year  differed  somewhat  from  the 
two  preceding  ones,  it  marked  the  fifty-year  mile-stone  in 
the  University's  life — an  event  that  proved  to  be  highly  com- 
memorative. The  buildings,  fences,  grounds,  walks,  and 
roads  had  been  looked  after  with  exceptional  care  during  the 
previous  weeks  that  gave  the  historic  place  an  air  of  freshness 
— as  though  presided  over  by  extremely  watchful  and  pains- 
taking eyes. 

Regardless,  however,  of  the  unusual  occasion  quite  a  con- 
tingent of  students  departed  previously  for  home,  in  which 
seemingly  they  then  had  the  greater  interest,  but  this  clearing 
out  was  compensated  for  largely  by  the  return  of  many  former 
graduates,  desirous  of  showing  filial  loyalty  to  their  Alma 
Mater  in  this  exceptional  birth-year.  The  personnel  atmos- 
phere assumed  an  uncommon  complexion,  as  a  number  of 
strange  and  beautiful  ladies  came  from  near  and  distant  points 
seeking  enjoyment  and  holding  a  higher  ambition  of  making 
the  event  ever  memorable,  while,  instead  of  the  preponderating 
bright,  quickly  stepping,  beardless  youths,  there  came  in  view 
at  every  turn  the  more  somber,  quietly  moving,  gray-haired 
and  bearded  man.  A  few  had  been  absent  forty  to  fifty  years, 
others  twenty  to  thirty,  and  some  only  one,  two,  five  or  ten, 
but  each  and  all  united  in  the  pleasant  memories  of  student- 
life,  and  for  the  time  lived  in  delightful  companionship.  Dis- 
tinguished characters  in  various  lines  were  much  in  evidence — 
not  only  graduates  of  our  University,  but  those  who  had  been 
trained  at  other  institutions — ministers,  lawyers,  doctors,  edu- 
cators, scientists,  men  of  state  and  men  of  affairs.  Certainly 
to  the  then  youthful  student,  unaccustomed  to  so  much  dig- 
nity, distinction,  and  greatness,  in  years  and  calling,  it  was  a 
most  inspiring  scene — one  calculated  to  cause  thoughtfulness, 
serious  reflection,  a  spirit  of  emulation,  a  hope  to  follow  in  the 
wake  of  their  footprints. 

Sunday  night,  June  27th.  The  annual  sermon  before  the 
Young  Men's  Christian  Association  was  delivered  in  the  Pub- 
lic Hall  by  Rev.  Dr.  W.  T.  Brantly,  a  celebrated  Baptist 
divine  of  Baltimore,  who,  after  being  introduced  by  our  chap- 


294  UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA 

lain,  Rev.  S.  A.  Steel,  discoursed  for  an  hour,  to  every  one's 
delight,  on  the  subject,  "  The  Temporal  Value  of  Christian 
Ethics." 

Monday  night — Wash.  Celebration.  After  prayer  by  our 
chaplain,  Rev.  S.  A.  Steel,  the  President,  Mr.  Geo.  Ben.  Johns- 
ton, Va.,  in  a  short  speech,  presented  the  orator,  Mr.  Henry 
C.  Stuart,  Va.,  who  entertained  the  audience  with  his  studies 
upon  the  words  of  Hannibal,  "  Beyond  the  Alps  lies  Italy." 
He  described  the  beauties  of  Italy  that  made  it  the  ideal  land 
— the  world  of  mind — that  which  every  ambitious  student 
should  strive  to  possess,  even  though  literary  pursuits  imply 
many  formidable  obstacles.  As  Hannibal  avowed  to  follow 
in  the  footsteps  of  his  ancestors,  so  we  students  should  emulate 
the  examples  of  our  older  and  illustrious  alumni. 

After  this  the  President  conferred  the  debater's  medal  upon 
Mr.  Charles  E.  Nicol,  Va.,  who  received  and  acknowledged 
it  in  a  brief  valedictory  to  his  fellow-students — Votaries  at  the 
same  shrine,  and  citizens  of  the  same  grand  Republic.  The 
usual  Lawn  illumination  and  promenading  followed,  with 
sumptuous  receptions  at  Professors  Holmes'  and  Schele's. 

Tuesday  night — Jeff.  Celebration.  After  prayer  by  our 
chaplain,  Rev.  S.  A.  Steel,  the  President,  Mr.  Benj.  Fitzpatrick, 
Ala.,  introduced  the  orator,  Mr.  A.  M.  Robinson,  Texas,  who 
delighted  his  hearers  to  a  rare  degree  with  his  beautiful  flow- 
ery style,  on  the  theme,  "  Blessings  brighten  as  they  take  their 
flight."  After  this  the  President  conferred  the  debater's 
medal  upon  Mr.  Leo.  N.  Levi,  Texas,  who  in  his  acceptance 
speech  excelled  any  undergraduate  effort  in  the  memory  of 
the  oldest.  His  beautiful  language,  forceful  delivery,  long  ac- 
centuated sentences,  and  deep  stentorian  voice,  enforced  pro- 
found attention  and  delight — that  so  seldom  accorded  at 
similar  functions.  Immediately  thereafter  Professor  Holmes 
awarded  the  Magazine  medal  to  Mr.  Marcus  B.  Almond, 
Va.,  who  owing  to  sickness  was  absent,  and  the  Magazine 
scholarships  to  Messrs.  Robert  M.  Cooper,  S.  Ca.  and  Lyon 
G.  Tyler,  Va.  Later  in  the  evening  a  reception  was  given 
at  Professor  Minor's. 

Wednesday  morning— Alumni  Celebration.  At  10  o'ck, 
the  entire  University  community,  alumni  and  friends  as- 


UNIVERSITY    OF   VIRGINIA  295 

sembled  in  the  Public  Hall,  when  after  prayer  by  Rev.  Dr. 
T.  D.  Witherspoon,  the  President  of  the  Alumni  Society,  Hon. 
B.  Johnson  Barbour,  made  a  short  but  beautiful  address  of 
welcome,  introducing  at  its  conclusion  the  poet  of  the  day,  Mr. 
Daniel  B.  Lucas,  W.  Va.,  who  delivered  the  "  Semi-Centennial 
Poem,"  of  which  we  reproduce  here  some  stanzas : 

"As   desolate,   lonely,   and   broken, 

The  Greatest  American  stood, 
Full-voiced   as   Uriel,   a   token 

Came  out  of  his  favorite  Wood : 
Or  as  words  of  Egeria  spoken 
To  Numa  the  Good. 

He  had  written  the  Charter  of  Treason, 

Defying  oblivion  and  death : 
He  had   spoken,    (Apostle  of  Reason!) 

"  Let   Conscience  be   free   as   the   breath, 
That  the  way  of  the  Truth  be  not  hidden, 

And  the  Earth  be  not  barren  of  Faith ! " 

But  the  spirit  that  slumbered  within  him 

Besought  him  to  ponder  again ; 
The  Spirit  of  Greatness  within  him, 

Unnamed  in  the  language  of  men : 
Build  me  a  Temple  of  Learning,  said  she, 

Build    me    a    Temple    of    stone — 
Build    for    all    ages:    assuredly, 

Build   for  man's   Reason   a  throne; 
For  Freedom  and  Truth  shall  prosper 

Where  Knowledge  and  Science  are  known! 

Build  me  a  home,  said  the  Spirit, 

Where  the  coin  of  all  tongues  shall  be  good — 
All  speech  that  the  nations  inherit 

Shall  be  spoken,  in  fashion  and  mood, 
From  the  youngest  and  poorest  in  merit, 

Through   the   oldest   and   best   understood, 
To  the  murmurs   of   all   creation, 

And  the  infinite  sounds  of  God !     .     .    . 

Let  her  teach  and  inspire  a  yearning 

Of  the  knowledge  concealed  in  the  earth, 
Of  the  love  of  preadamite  learning, 

And  significant  monster  birth : 
Of  seadrift,  and  waters  subsiding, 

And    landrise,    and    glacial    domes, 
And  species  extinct,  or  abiding, 

Rockbound,  in  their  cavernous  homes; 
For  the  crust  of  the  earth  is  scripture, 

And  her  rocks  are  magnificent  tomes! 


296  UNIVERSITY    OF   VIRGINIA 

Let  her  teach  there  the  forces  of  nature, 

With  more  than  an  alchemist's  wand; 
And  the  station  and  rank  of  each  creature, 

That  inhabits  the  sea  or  the  land; 
From  the  lowest  in  life  and  sensation, 

Through  the  highest  embraced  in  the  plan 
Of  the  speechless  in  God's  creation, 

To  the  marvelous  germs  that  are  hidden 
In  the  innermost  spirit  of  man!    .    .    . 

And  there,  let  them  teach  in  their  glory, 

Those  Rights  which  the  world  has  denied, 
Which  the  States  shall  deny,  (the  old  story 

Repeating  itself  far  and  wide). 
Until   from  the   Porch  you  will  build  me, 

The   minds   of   Republic  ascend 
To  the  height  of  the  truths  which  have  thrilled  me 

For  wherever  the  future  may  tend, 
Be  you  sure  what  the  Seedsman  hath  scattered, 

Will  prosper,  and  grow  in  the  end!    .    .    . 

As  this  is  her  youth,  I  sing  of  her  birth, 

And    not    her    majestic    prime — 
For  an  hundred  years  is  a  day  upon  earth, 

And  Fifty  a  morning  in  time; 
Through  many  and  many  a  lustrum, 

While  governments  rise  and  decline, 
Perpetually  young  like  the  planets, 

This  Temple  of  Learning  shall  shine: 
And   Mother!    Fair   Mother!   thy   children 

Shall  return,  and  bow  down  at  thy  shrine!    .    . 

And    beloved    round   thine    altars    maternal, 

The  forms  of  thy  first-born  appear, 
Whose  fame  with  thine  own  is  eternal — 

Thy  Hunter  and  Preston  are  here! 
When   the   volume    is    full,    then   their    story 

Shall  honor  thine  Hundred  years; 
For    the    dead    gather    harvests    of    glory, 

Where  the  living  sow  sorrow  and  tears ; 
And  Mother!  Fair  Mother!  our  children 

Shall  thank  thee  for  lessons  like  theirs !     .    . 

For  now  at  this   Semi-Centennial, 

We  return  to  the  arms  that  have  nursed; 
To  thy  breast,  as  a  fountain  perennial, 

To  quench   an  undying  thirst: 
While  we  drink  of  the  dew  of  such  fountains, 

We  know  that  our  strength  shall  not  fail: 
From  cities  and  valleys  and  mountains, 

We  bid  thee  all  hail!   all  hail! 
Alma  Mater,  amata !  returning, 

We  bid  thee  all  hail!  all  hail! 


Professor  Charles  S.  Venable,  L/I/.D.,  at  forty-nine 
1827-1901 

See  page  373 


FACING  296 


UNIVERSITY    OF   VIRGINIA  297 

After  Mr.  Lucas  had  finished  and  the  applause  had  softened 
in  tone,  the  Hall  rang  with  many  voices  for  Gen.  Jubal  A. 
Early,  who  at  once  arose  from  among  the  dignitaries  and 
responded  in  a  brief,  witty  manner :  "  I  take  this  call  as  no 
empty  compliment  to  myself,  but  as  an  expression  of  fidelity 
to  the  cause  you  all  love  and  cherish.  As  this  is  an  era  of 
Centennial  Celebrations,  and  I  could  not  go  conscientiously 
the  whole  figure,  I  thought  I  would  come  down  to  this  Semi- 
Centennial,  hoping  that  if  I  lived  to  the  end  of  the  next  cen- 
tury I  might  then  be  prepared  for  even  a  Centennial.  In 
joining  in  the  congratulations  of  this  occasion  it  is  to  me  a  sad 
reflection  that  this  noble  University  is  all  that  remains  of  the 
works  of  its  great  founder.  It  ought  to  be  distinctly  under- 
stood that  Virginia  will  never  consent  to  occupy  the  place  of  a 
repentant  rebel,  and  that  if  she  is  to  have  a  place  in  national 
processions,  she  must  not  be  led  in  chains,  however  they  may 
be  gilded  by  kind  words  and  fraternal  embraces." 

Wednesday  night — Alumni  Celebration.  This  was  set 
apart  for  the  address  of  Hon.  Robert  M.  T.  Hunter,  whom, 
after  prayer,  the  Hon.  B.  Johnson  Barbour  introduced  as 
"  Virginia's  honored  son/' 

The  speech  of  Mr.  Hunter  was  valuable  from  its  historical 
side,  inasmuch  as  it  outlined  the  establishment  of  the  Uni- 
versity— the  obstacles  encountered  by  Mr.  Jefferson  and  his 
distinguished  coadjutor,  Joseph  C.  Cabell,  towards  higher  edu- 
cation, the  wise  innovations  introduced  into  the  management 
and  arrangement  of  studies,  and  the  great  advantage  the  Uni- 
versity had  been  to  the  State  and  the  South.  A  few  excerpts 
will  illustrate  its  character : 

The  patient  energy  and  uncomplaining  zeal  of  Mr.  Jeffer- 
son, who  never  faltered  in  his  purpose  until  he  had  established 
the  grand  institution,  which,  by  force  of  its  internal  constitu- 
tion, was  to  live  and  grow  with  such  scanty  support  as  the 
State  of  Virginia  could  afford  it,  and  to  furnish  the  highest 
degree  of  instruction  in  all  the  most  valuable  branches  of 
human  knowledge,  were  worthy  of  all  praise.  The  first  was  a 
problem  hard  and  high  for  any  man,  but  not  insoluble  to  one 
of  so  much  insight  into  the  character  of  human  government; 
the  second  required  a  superiority  to  the  utilitarian  tendencies 


29S  UNIVERSITY    OF   VIRGINIA 

of  an  age  which  would  dwarf  the  spiritual  growth  of  man  in  a 
base  subservience  to  mammon,  and  sacrifice  the  worship  of  the 
beautiful  and  true  to  the  sordid  love  of  gain.  But  happily 
for  Virginia,  fortunately  for  mankind  and  the  larger  interests 
of  human  progress,  the  man  had  hold  of  the  subject,  who  of 
all  on  the  continent,  was  probably  best  fitted  by  energy  and 
wisdom  to  grapple  with  the  difficulties  of  the  situation. 

He  provided  that  the  professors  be  paid  in  part  by  a  fixed 
salary  from  the  State  and  the  residue  from  the  students*  fees, 
thus  making  it  the  professors'  interest  to  keep  up  the  Uni- 
versity, and  maintain  its  value  and  popularity.  He  introduced 
another  regulation,  of  which  this  institution  furnished  the  first 
example — the  elective  or  voluntary  system,  which  seems  to  be 
slowly  but  surely  making  its  way  amongst  the  colleges  of  this 
country.  This  innovation  was  at  first  received  with  distrust 
by  many  of  Mr.  Jefferson's  friends,  but  its  growing  success 
has  only  served  to  increase  still  further  our  faith  in  his  rare 
sagacity  and  skill  in  the  organization  and  government  of  men. 
Unwilling  to  bind  the  intellect  of  all  men  to  the  procrustean 
bed  of  a  curriculum,  or  to  establish  an  average  standard  of  re- 
quirement, whose  measure  might  be  conformed  to  the  average 
capacity  and  opportunities  of  a  class,  he  boldly  declared  that 
no  man  should  be  required  to  study  anything  but  what  his  own 
talents,  tastes,  and  opportunities  should  suggest  and  prescribe. 
He  established  another  innovation  which  was  much  more  dis- 
trusted— the  principle  of  self-government — abolishing  the  testi- 
mony of  one  student  against  another  and  substituting  therefor 
the  power  of  well  regulated  public  opinion  among  the  student- 
body. 

Experience,  I  think,  may  now  entitle  us  to  compare  this  with 
any  school  in  the  Union  for  good  order  and  studious  habits. 
Indeed,  I  heard  a  distinguished  gentleman  some  time  ago,  who 
now  has  a  son  here,  say  he  had  never  seen  a  school  in  which 
the  public  opinion  of  society  was  so  distinctly  pronounced  in 
favor  of  good  order  and  studious  habits.  He  said  it  seemed 
to  him  that  the  point  of  honor  was  to  behave  well  and  study 
hard,  and  to  such  a  degree  was  this  character  impressed  upon 
the  school  that  he  believed  there  was  no  place  where  a  young 
man  was  likely  to  make  so  much  progress  in  mind  and  manner 
as  here.  What  higher  compliment  could  be  paid  to  Mr.  Jef- 


UNIVERSITY    OF   VIRGINIA  299 

ferson's  experiment  than  this?  At  the  time  this  institution 
was  founded  there  was  a  general  disposition  in  this  country 
to  adopt  the  utilitarian  standard  as  a  test  of  the  merit  of  edu- 
cation, particularly  in  the  sections  of  country  where  Franklin 
was  the  model  man.  Having  no  knowledge  of  the  ancient 
languages  himself,  there  is  no  evidence  that  he  attached  a 
special  importance  to  an  acquaintance  with  them.  But  Mr. 
Jefferson,  a  classical  scholar  himself,  was  not  insensible  to  the 
value  of  such  studies.  Fortunately  for  Virginia  and  the  Uni- 
versity, he  knew  that  the  value  of  all  culture  was  to  be  meas- 
ured by  the  growth  which  it  fostered  in  the  soul  of  man.  He 
was  too  elevated  himself  to  believe  education  was  to  be  esti- 
mated by  its  money  value ;  he  was  incapable  of  any  such  intel- 
lectual simony,  believing  with  Charles  V.,  of  Spain,  that  every 
man  was  as  many  times  a  man  as  he  understood  a  language. 

If  there  be  some  who  believe  that  Edgar  Allan  Poe  is  ahead 
of  all  other  American  poets,  and  speaks  in  American  poetry 
with  a  higher  charm  than  any  other  who  paints  his  visions  or 
tells  his  dreams  to  delight  and  instruct  his  readers,  they  will 
surely  believe  that  he  owes  that  excellence  to  his  having  dwelt 
with  a  truer  appreciation  and  higher  taste  amongst  the  models 
of  classic  literature  than  any  other  of  his  day.  Few  colleges 
at  that  day  were  provided  even  with  the  proper  text-books  to 
teach  either  the  ancient  languages  or  their  literature.  The 
young  New  England  teachers,  with  which  the  land  was  then 
flooded,  with  no  Greek  and  but  little  Latin,  turned  out  a  host 
of  pupils  incapable  of  passing  even  the  meagre  examination  re- 
quired of  candidates  for  matriculation  at  the  University  of  Vir- 
ginia. Of  these,  it  was  my  misfortune  to  have  been  one,  and 
when  I  went  to  Mr.  Long  with  a  confession  of  my  deficiencies, 
he  told  me  not  to  take  the  matter  to  heart,  as  he  would  prefer 
to  have  my  mind  a  blank  page  on  these  subjects  sooner  than  see 
it  filled  with  the  crudities  and  errors  of  ignorant  or  half- 
taught  teachers,  who  had  so  far  mistaken  their  calling  as  to 
have  undertaken  to  enlighten  me.  How  different  now,  when 
schools  are  found  all  over  our  State  taught  by  students  of  the 
University,  in  which  a  far  more  competent  knowledge  of  the 
classics  is  to  be  obtained  than  was  possessed  by  graduates  of 
most  colleges  in  the  country  when  this  great  institution  was 
founded.  Men  may  not  covet  the  possession  of  classical  learn- 


300  UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA 

ing  for  themselves,  but  what  lover  of  the  reformation,  or  en- 
thusiast for  Christian  progress,  will  undervalue  the  Latin  and 
Greek  of  Luther  and  Erasmus,  of  Calvin,  or  Zuinglius  ?  All 
praise  to  Mr.  Jefferson,  to  whom  we  are  indebted  for  so  many 
other  things,  for  restoring  classic  literature  to  its  rightful  place 
in  the  catalogue  of  human  studies,  and  providing  means  and 
facilities  for  its  highest  cultivation  amongst  those  who  desire 
to  make  it  the  object  of  their  chief  pursuit. 

To  the  men  who  found  great  schools  of  instruction,  how  can 
we  attribute  too  much?  Take  from  the  history  of  human 
progress  the  contribution  of  the  great  schools  of  the  world, 
and  how  small  will  be  the  residuum?  Can  there  be  any  object 
of  ambition  so  seductive  to  the  imagination  of  states  and  of 
statesmen  as  the  establishment  of  such  schools  as  this,  from 
which  man  maintains  his  lookout  upon  the  whole  destiny  and 
fortune  of  his  race?  Here,  sirs,  is  the  stake  for  which  Vir- 
ginia is  playing  in  these  international  jousts.  Will  any  true 
son  of  hers  hint  the  suspicion  that  she  will  relax  her  energies 
or  grow  faint-hearted  in  playing  for  such  a  prize  and  maintain- 
ing the  benediction  for  the  good  of  the  race  ? 

In  these  days  of  depression,  doubt  and  unrest  we  must  stand 
by  the  truth — not  suffer  it  to  be  destroyed  or  obscured  by 
selfish  interests  which  disparage  principles  that  were  developed 
and  maintained  by  our  fathers,  nor  must  we  suffer  public 
opinion  to  be  degraded  or  contaminated  for  purposes  of  plunder 
or  oppression.  To  do  that,  we  must  cultivate  and  cherish  this 
grand  Southern  school,  and  make  its  teachings  a  light  to  guide 
the  footsteps  of  mankind.  The  fate  of  this  institution  will 
depend  upon  her  students  and  alumni — as  one  class  disappears, 
another  will  take  its  place  to  fill  these  halls.  May  no  class 
ever  resign  its  place  to  its  successors  and  leave  the  University 
less  efficient  in  its  usefulness  or  disparaged  in  reputation,  and 
may  each  be  enabled  to  say  with  pride,  "  I  have  been  educated 
in  the  school  of  Jefferson !  I  have  been  animated  by  his  spirit 
while  there,  and  trained  according  to  his  discipline  and  appli- 
ances !  I  have  now  stripped  for  the  fight,  hoping  to  conquer 
a  place  in  the  estimation  of  the  world  of  which  neither  I  nor 
my  posterity  shall  ever  be  ashamed ! 

Mr.  Hunter  was  fitted  singularly  for  writing  the  historical 
side  of  the  University,  being  one  oi  the  matriculants  of  her 


UNIVERSITY    OF   VIRGINIA  301 

first  session,  1825,  and  knowing  thoroughly  her  struggles  for 
existence  and  establishment  by  Mr.  Jefferson.  Not  only  this 
— he  had  continued  to  take  interest  in  her  welfare,  following 
her  various  steps  of  progress  up  to  the  immediate  present. 
Apart  from  this  direct  identity,  Mr.  Hunter  himself  had  grown 
to  be  distinguished — none  of  the  alumni  more  so — having  oc- 
cupied with  signal  ability  and  satisfaction,  beginning  with 
1833,  the  highest  offices  in  the  gift  of  his  people — legislator, 
Congressman  (eight  years),  Senator  (fourteen  years;  1846- 
61),  Senator  of  the  Confederacy,  and  finally  its  very  able 
Secretary  of  State.  He  was  unpretentious  but  of  striking  ap- 
pearance, moderate  size,  about  five  feet  ten  inches  high,  weigh-» 
ing  one  hundred  and  sixty  pounds;  smooth  face,  strong  eyes 
and  orbits — the  latter  with  well-developed  eyebrows;  nose 
well-proportioned  and  rather  a  positive  upper  lip.  He  seemed 
somewhat  feeble  and  to  have  impaired  hearing;  his  voice  was 
not  strong,  consequently  those  in  the  rear  of  the  Hall  heard 
nothing  save  the  jabber  of  those  around  them.  Mr.  Barbour 
reprimanded  the  audience  for  general  inattention  and  promis- 
cuous conversation,  but  even  that  had  little  effect  upon  the 
many  lovers  and  sweethearts  bent  upon  amusing  themselves 
in  accordance  with  their  own  pleasure,  irrespective  of  the  dis- 
courtesy shown  their  host — the  University. 

At  the  conclusion  of  Mr.  Hunter's  address,  both  Senator 
Bayard  and  Governor  Kemper  responded  to  the  calls  of  the 
audience,  in  short  but  witty  speeches,  which  brought  un- 
bounded delight  and  respectful  quietness  to  the  hitherto  rest- 
less multitude.  After  these  exercises  a  delightful  reception, 
including  dancing,  was  given  at  Professor  Mallet's. 

Thursday  morning — Commencement  or  Final  Day.  At  10 
o'ck,  every  one  assembled  in  the  Public  Hall  to  witness  the 
conferring  of  diplomas  and  certificates  of  proficiency,  when, 
after  prayer  by  the  chaplain,  Rev.  S.  A.  Steel,  the  Chairman 
of  the  Faculty,  Dr.  Harrison,  announced  in  proper  groups  the 
names  of  those  who  had  won  University  honors,  presenting 
each,  with  the  able  assistance  of  the  venerable  Mr.  Werten- 
baker,  a  sheepskin  in  testimony  thereof— concluding  his  duties 
with  a  short  address  filled  with  wholesome  advice.  After  a 
recess  of  an  hour,  during  which  many  repaired  to  Jefferies' 
Dining  Hall — the  Alumni  luncheon  headquarters — or  else- 


302  UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA 

where  for  something  light  to  eat  and  drink,  all  reassembled,  in 
spite  of  the  excessive  heat,  in  the  Public  Hall,  i  o'ck,  to  enjoy 
the  last  chapter  of  the  Semi-Centennial  Celebration — the  ora- 
tion of  Gen.  John  S.  Preston,  of  S.  Ca. 

After  prayer  by  Rev.  Dr.  T.  D.  Witherspoon,  President 
Barbour  introduced  the  distinguished  speaker  in  very  compli- 
mentary terms,  who  upon  arising  elicited  no  little  applause, 
for  his  physical  form  was  thoroughly  impressive.  He  seemed 
several  inches  beyond  six  feet,  symmetrically  and  powerfully 
built  and  was  winning  from  the  very  start.  His  voice  was 
strong,  beautifully  modulated  upon  long  rounded  sentences 
framed  for  euphony  as  well  as  meaning ;  his  entire  delivery  was 
with  unaccustomed  earnestness  and  eloquence,  and  his  subject 
— appealing  to  the  sentiments  if  not  the  judgments,  half-way 
acceptable  to  every  one  but  thoroughly  believed  out  of  tune 
with  the  place  and  occasion — contributed  a  fascination  that 
carried  the  audience  to  the  finish  amid  surprise,  awe  and  de- 
light. The  address  might  well  have  been  titled,  "  A  Fervent 
Conviction  in  the  Right  of  Secession/'  and  that  afternoon  many 
comments  were  heard  concerning  it,  while  at  the  Alumni 
Banquet  that  night  Senator  Bayard  and  Governor  Kemper 
feelingly  opposed  the  wisdom  of  harboring  and  expressing 
such  sentiments — they  being  out  of  joint  with  the  time,  that 
which  had  long  since  passed.  Even  the  Faculty  deplored  the 
General's  lack  of  discretion,  and  did  much  in  repressing  the 
speech's  publicity,  never  allowing  its  publication  for  general 
distribution.  The  Radical  newspapers,  however,  throughout 
the  country  accepted  it  as  another  morsel  against  the  South 
to  feed  upon — some  giving  it  the  strongest  partisan  interpre- 
tation, others  considering  it  simply  as  a  joke,  the  outburst  of 
a  diseased  and  perverted  mind.  We  reproduce  here  a  few 
excerpts : 

The  whole  brood  of  nurslings,  the  offspring  of  fifty  years' 
annual  parturition  of  the  foremost  school  of  letters,  science  and 
philosophy  of  this  New  World,  has  called  me,  one  of  the  first- 
born and  humblest  of  the  flock,  to  stand  here  by  our  nursery 
cradle  and  speak.  It  is  the  most  notable  honor  of  my  life, 
and  I  undertake  it  with  tremulous  reverence  for  the  high 
responsibility  it  reposes.  My  foster-brothers  are  the  wise, 
the  heroic,  the  elders  and  teachers  of  the  land,  the  intellectual 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  303 

and  social  "  conscript  fathers."  Coming  out  of  the  obscurity 
of  age  and  of  a  lost  country  I  have  been  at  a  loss  to  divine  a 
theme  with  which  to  celebrate  the  presence  of  the  Alumni  of 
this  great  University;  but  the  literature,  science,  philosophy, 
and  the  embodied  thought  of  the  last  fifty  years  have  given  the 
world  themes  so  varied  that  I  fear  I  have  been  more  troubled 
in  selecting  one  than  in  the  treatment  of  it.  I  might  with 
nimble  fingers  unweave  our  thread  of  fifty  years  from  the 
warp  and  woof  of  the  world's  history,  and  hang  our  joys  on 
its  golden  tissue,  like  rich  jewels,  or  our  griefs  and  woe  on  its 
torn  and  jagged  shreds.  But  I  believe  such  themes  are  only 
for  our  sympathies ;  they  are  the  fond  words  of  a  lullaby  that 
could  be  sung  here  at  our  mother's  cradle  only  to  soothe  those 
who  cling  to  her  breast.  The  coming  world — the  after  to-day 
— may  better  appreciate  them.  But  with  us  graybeards,  stand- 
ing on  the  silent,  solemn  shore  of  the  vast  ocean  on  which  we 
must  soon  sail ;  we  who  see  the  harvest  sickle  glittering  in  the 
hand  of  the  Great  Reaper,  the  stern  present  and  the  immutable 
past,  must  now  prominently  prevail.  I  ask  you,  my  hearers,  to 
be  charitable  to  the  gray  hairs  of  one  who  offered  his  life  and 
gave  all  the  rest  that  you  might  be  free,  and  lost  all  save  the 
poor  and  woeful  remnant  of  life.  The  purport  of  my  theme 
is  to  measure  the  deep  relations  of  right  and  wrong,  of  justice 
and  liberty,  and  of  such  I  shall  talk  here  to-day,  before  these 
altars  and  under  this  sky,  for  I  cannot  stand  in  the  shadow  of 
Monticello  with  my  heart  overflowing  with  sacred  memories 
and  not  ease  it  by  utterance.  .  .  . 

The  Mayflower  freight,  under  the  laws  of  England,  was 
heresy  and  crime;  the  laws  and  usages  growing  out  of  the 
charters  of  English  liberty  consisted  only  of  crude  and  shallow 
systems  of  theological,  philosophical,  and  political  fictions, 
scarcely  above  the  vain  babblings  of  mediaeval  speculations, 
mingled  with  the  poisons  of  licentious  fanaticism,  establish- 
ing upon  them  municipal  forms  of  mere  superficial  restraint 
and  flimsy  systems  of  educational  training,  calculated  to  per- 
petuate ignorance  and  substitute  individual  craft  for  public 
virtue. 

The  Jamestown  immigrant,  on  the  other  hand,  was  an  Eng- 
lish freeman,  loyal  to  his  country  and  his  God,  with  English 
honor  in  his  heart  and  English  piety  in  his  soul,  and  carrying 


304  UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA 

in  his  right  hand  the  charters,  usages  and  laws  which  were 
achieving  the  regeneration  of  England. 

The  people  of  New  England  are  adverse  to  the  principles  of 
English  constitutional  liberty  and  of  English  religious  free- 
dom. They  came  not  as  refugees  from  unlawful  persecution 
and  tyranny,  but  as  escaped  convicts  from  the  first  penalties 
of  a  turbulent  heresy  and  an  ambitious  rebellion,  which  sought 
by  violence  to  enforce  their  conscience  on  England's  law. 
Their  feud  began  beyond  the  broad  Atlantic,  and  has  never 
ceased  on  its  western  shores.  No  space,  or  time,  or  the 
convenience  of  any  human  law,  or  the  power  of  any  human 
arm,  can  reconcile  institutions  for  the  turbulent  fanatic  of 
Plymouth  Rock  and  the  God-fearing  Christian  of  Jamestown. 
You  may  assign  them  to  the  closest  territorial  proximity,  with 
all  the  forms,  modes,  and  shows  of  civilization;  but  you  can 
never  cement  them  into  the  bonds  of  brotherhood.  Great 
Nature  in  her  supremest  law  forbids  it.  Nature  in  her  various 
recondite,  inappreciable,  but  most  potential  organizations,  im- 
poses conditions  evolving  necessities  and  results  which  the 
arbitrary  or  conventional  institutions  of  man  cannot  control, 
and  fail  even  to  assimilate.  Her  stern  decrees  forbid  man's 
resistance,  and  punish  his  violations  of  them. 

General  Preston  then  in  most  feeling  and  eloquent  sen- 
tences descanted  upon  the  question :  "  Whether  one  man's 
liberties  ought  to  be  judged  forever  by  other  men's  con- 
sciences," and  appropriately  quoted  St.  Paul's  words  of  almost 
the  same  tenor  continuing  thus:  While  I  consider  this  a 
divine  injustice,  yet  has  the  South  done  her  best  to  keep 
command;  has  she  done  so  piously,  wisely  and  valiantly,  in 
full  measure  of  the  magnitude  and  appreciation  of  its  tran- 
scendent value?  Have  we  done  all  those  things  we  were 
commanded  to  do,  and  have  we  done  that  which  it  was  our 
duty  to  do  ?  Tenderer  and  more  devoted,  stronger  and  purer, 
higher  and  holier  than  aught  on  earth  save  a  mother's  love 
for  her  child,  is  the  almost  divine  sentiment  which  makes  us 
love  and  live  for  the  land  of  our  birth.  But  above  all  this, 
above  all  the  earth,  is  that  feeling  which  makes  us  reverence 
with  worship  and  cherish  by  devotion  the  truth  which  is  trans- 
mitted to  us  by  our  fathers;  for  that  is  the  filial  obedience 
shining  in  the  same  sphere  with  immortal  love.  This  holy 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  305 

sentiment,  in  all  its  most  heroic  forms,  developed  into  action 
all  the  virtuous  energies  of  the  men  who  had  won  the  liberties 
of  America,  and  with  wise,  ardent  and  valorous  devotion  they 
went  on  building  up  a  grand  and  glorious  structure  on  that 
foundation,  strengthening  and  adorning  it  with  the  pillars  and 
muniments  of  the  right  of  self-government  and  the  mighty 
prerogative  of  the  freedom  of  conscience. 

They  were  grandly  inspired  architects,  those  master-builders, 
who  came  out  of  the  first  war  for  civil  independence  in  this 
New  World,  and  in  fifty  years  they  completed  an  edifice  dedi- 
cated to  civil  freedom  and  free  conscience,  whose  foundation 
was  a  continent,  whose  boundaries  were  boundless  seas,  and 
whose  turrets  aspired  to  heaven  to  catch  the  light  and  blessing 
from  a  God  of  Truth.  This  was  the  temple  which  was  to 
become  the  pride  of  history,  the  joy  of  a  great  and  happy 
people — "  the  joy,  the  pride,  the  glory  of  mankind  " — in  which 
no  man's  liberty  was  to  be  judged  by  another  man's  con- 
science. For  this  sacred  purpose  the  covenants  were  placed 
upon  the  altar,  the  gates  were  opened  to  the  people,  and  they 
went  in  and  prayed  with  thanksgiving  and  hymns  of  praise, 
and  renewed  the  covenants,  and  the  world  began  to  know  them 
and  called  them  blessed — 

In  one  loud,  applauding-  sound, 
The  nations  shout  to  her  around, 
How  supremely  art  thou  blessed.' 

How  awful  the  holy  purity,  how  wonderful  the  grandeur  of 
this  temple  dedicated  to  truth,  to  liberty,  and  to  free  conscience 
— a  temple  fitted  for  the  crowned  truth  to  dwell  in  forever. 
After  the  great  struggle  for  civil  liberty — Washington  was 
dead.  His  robes  of  unsmirched  purple  stolen  and  misfitted 
for  a  time,  were  again  worthily  on  the  shoulders  of  Jefferson ; 
and  here  white  handed  hope  waved  her  scepter  of  faith,  and 
liberty  sat  smiling  beneath  the  bright  enchantment,  or  serenely 
and  grandly  seemed  to  move  onward  to  the  anointing  and  the 
coronation.  .  .  . 

With  bated  breath  I  plead  the  duty  of  the  Alumni  of  this 
great  University,  evolved  by  the  immortal  Jefferson,  the 
splendid  harvest  of  fruit  that  has  come  from  that  great  man's 
design.  It  is  for  you  to  transmit  to  posterity  the  true  narration 


306  UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA 

of  the  facts  and  the  irreversible  logic  of  these  three  score 'and 
ten  years,  and  with  it  exhibit  the  seemingly  dying  effort  of 
moral,  civil  and  religious  truth  in  its  struggle  with  fierce  in- 
tolerance and  greedy  fanaticism,  sustained  by  merely  mechani- 
cal and  physical  forces  and  energies,  and  thus  to  justify  before 
God  and  posterity  how  valiant,  how  virtuous  and  how  heroic 
men,  women  and  children  may  be  who,  inheriting  the  promises 
of  God's  holy  spirit  to  an  illustrious  ancestry,  impelled  by  filial 
piety  and  sustained  by  the  divine  sentiment  of  patriotism,  in 
asserting  that  their  liberty  shall  not  be  judged  by  other  men's 
conscience.  This  narration  will  unveil  the  foulest  crime  which 
stains  the  annals  of  human  history;  it  will  put  upon  record 
that  less  than  seven  decades  and  a  lustrum  sufficed  to  uproot 
and  dispel  all  veneration  for  the  past  countless  centuries  and 
to  engraft  upon  the  chronicles  and  the  civilization  of  the 
nineteenth  century  of  grace,  as  its  most  vital  attribute  and 
essential  element  and  power  the  most  unnatural  crime  God 
has  permitted  man  to  perpetuate.  Remember  the  North's 
great  desire — to  extirpate  the  people  of  the  South,  and  to 
scatter  salt  over  the  land.  Oh,  my  countrymen,  it  is  a  sorry 
sight  to  see  the  toil  of  ages  won  by  our  forefathers — their 
pride,  their  supreme  joy,  their  triumph — sunk  to  desolation 
by  our  failure,  leaving  us  where  all  our  talk  is  of  graves  and 
wounds  and  epitaphs,  and  all  our  prayers  for  oblivion — "  a 
realm  of  tombs."  .  .  . 

But  for  you  nurslings  of  to-day,  still  at  our  mother's  breast, 
I  would  change  this  sad  and  weird  lament,  this  gloomy  chant 
of  woe,  and  strike  the  resounding  chord  which  sent  forth  the 
bold  anthem  of  hope,  and  give  you  a  cheering  and  living  echo 
from  the  dark  vault  of  the  past.  Once  I  dreaded  lest  the  womb 
of  Virginia  had  been  seared  to  barrenness,  and  her  fountains 
of  nurture  all  dried  up,  and  hope  itself  banished  from  her 
sphere.  But  when  I  look  at  you  to-day,  and  see  your  earnest 
and  pious  souls  gleaming  forth  in  your  eager  bright  eyes, 
and  when  I  stand  here  in  these  lovely  and  hallowed  places, 
with  this  sky  and  this  land  about  me,  and  their  breezes  fanning 
my  brow — here  in  the  shadow  of  Monticello — here  where  we 
now,  decrepit  fragments,  were  nurtured  in  that  ennobling  lore, 
and  gathered  that  truthful  spirit  which  led  us  to  give  ourselves 
and  all  our  hopes  in  the  fruitless  struggle  to  keep  you  as 


Professor  William  TJ.  Peters,  Uv.D.,  at  forty-three 
1829-1906 

Seepage  378 


FACING    306 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  307 

free  as  our  fathers  have  made  us — I  cannot  but  feel  that  the 
sacred  spirit  is  still  alive  in  your  hearts,  and  will  again  ap- 
pear and  move  in  you  to  a  triumphant  ending. 

The  Alumni  Banquet,  in  the  late  afternoon  and  evening, 
5-10.30  o'ck,  participated  in  by  about  four  hundred,  was  a 
most  brilliant  and  enjoyable  affair — not  only  from  the  de- 
licious morsels  it  furnished  for  the  body  but  from  the  post- 
prandial efforts  for  the  mind  that  followed  in  the  order  here 
named:  i,  Alma  Mater  (Mr.  W.  C.  Rives);  2,  Thomas 
Jefferson — Father  of  the  University  of  Virginia  (Col.  Thomas 
Jefferson  Randolph)  ;  3,  Virginia  (Gov.  T.  L.  Kemper)  ;  4, 
Knowledge  and  Virtue  (Hon.  Thomas  F.  Bayard)  ;  5,  Our 
Students  of  1825-26  (Professor  Henry  Tutwiler)  ;  6,  Our 
Former  Professors  (Professor  William  B.  Rogers)  ;  7,  The 
Orators  of  Our  Celebration  (Gen.  John  S.  Preston  and  Hon. 
Robert  M.  T.  Hunter)  ;  8,  The  Visitors  and  Faculty  of  the 
University  (Col.W.  R.  Berkeley)  ;  9,  The  Dead  of  Our  Alumni 
Brethren  (Mr.  Daniel  B.  Lucas)  ;  10,  Our  Young  Alumni  (Mr. 
A.  P.  Humphreys)  ;  n,  The  Faculty  and  Reception  Commit- 
tee ( — volunteered,  Mr.  H.  Clay  Dallam).  Letters  were  read 
from  Mr.  John  H.  Ingraham,  London,  editor  of  Poe's  works ; 
Robert  Mallet  and  George  Long,  London;  Charles  W.  Eliot, 
Harvard;  Noah  Porter,  Yale;  Robert  E.  Roeers,  University 
of  Pennsylvania;  Gen.  Francis  H.  Smith,  Virginia  Military 
Institute ;  Andrew  D.  White,  Cornell,  and  others. 

The  concluding  function  of  the  Commencement  was,  as 
usual,  the  Final  Ball,  which  loomed  into  existence  for  the 
more  youthful  just  as  the  "  dying  embers  "  of  the  banquet — for 
the  more  aged  and  dignified — "  wrought  their  ghosts  upon 
the  floor."  The  Ball  itself  differed  little  from  others  save  in 
the  preponderance  of  pretty  and  attractive  maidens  along  with 
their  several  escorts  tending  to  overcrowd  the  room  and  thereby 
render  round  dancinp*  less  satisfactory.  Until  midnight  square 
dances  and  waltzes  were  the  order,  but  after  supper,  which  was 
served  in  Wash.  Hall,  the  more  acceptable  "  German  "  was 
indulged  bringing  to  many  appropriate  "  favors  "  that  have 
remained  ever  since  pleasant  souvenirs. 


CHAPTER    XVI 
INCIDENTS  AND  COMMENCEMENT  OF  SESSION   1875-76 

Session  1875-76:  Sickness,  death  and  funeral  of  Thomas  Jefferson  Ran- 
dolph. Home-letters — another  visit  to  Monticello;  failure  of  the 
Charlottesville  National  Bank;  Bible  classes.  Former  and  present 
chaplains;  Davis  becomes  business  editor  of  the  Magazine.  Professor 
Thornton  succeeds  Professor  Boeck.  Election;  Christmas;  Earth- 
quake; social  pleasures,  dancing.  Edward  H.  Squibb  Gymnasium. 
Literary  Societies.  Davis — Sunday  School  Supt.  at  Chapel.  Visit 
to  Rev.  John  T.  Randolph's.  Religious  meetings.  John  Jasper's 
sermon;  Commencement — Ralph  Waldo  Emerson,  etc. 

I  REACHED  the  Parish  Hotel  for  the  session  of  1875-76,  Wed- 
nesday night,  September  29th,  and  began  the  next  day  getting 
my  room,  50  East  Range,  in  habitable  shape — possibly  ex- 
celling in  comfort  and  expense  those  of  previous  years. 
Scarcely  had  our  student  duties  been  resumed  when  it  was  re- 
ported throughout  the  University  community  that  the  much 
distinguished  and  revered  Thomas  Jefferson  Randolph  lay 
dangerously  ill  at  his  near-by  residence,  Edgehill,  and  that 
approaching  death  was  inevitable.  He  was  no  stranger  to 
the  older  student-body,  at  least  that  was  our  feeling  towards 
him,  as  most  of  us  had  been  impressed  with  his  tall,  erect 
and  stately  form — six  feet  four  or  five  inches — on  his  .oc- 
casional visits  to  Charlottesville  and  the  University.  Whether 
at  near  or  far  range  no  one  saw  his  conspicuous  figure  without 
an  interest  and  inquiry  as  to  the  personality.  We  recognized 
that  his  life,  more  than  any  one  then  living,  had  been  linked 
inseparably  with  his  grandfather's,  Mr.  Jefferson,  by  whom 
he  was  called  affectionately  "  the  staff  of  my  old  age."  We 
also  knew  that  he  had  discharged  voluntarily  at  great  sacri- 
fice, consuming  thereby  most  of  his  own  estate — forty  thousand 
dollars  or  more — every  pecuniary  obligation  left  by  Mr.  Jef- 
ferson, so  that  his  illustrious  name  might  be  held  untarnished 
by  posterity ;  that  as  legatee  and  executor,  he  had  published  his 
grandfather's  "  Memoir  and  Correspondence "  in  four  vol- 
umes, had  been  Rector  of  the  University  seven  and  member  of 

308 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  309 

the  Board  of  Visitors  thirty-one  years,  had  always  taken  the 
keenest  interest  in  the  welfare  of  the  institution,  and  at  its 
last  Commencement  (Semi-Centennial)  banquet  had  responded 
to  the  toast :  "  Thomas  Jefferson,  the  Father  of  the  Univer- 
sity of  Virginia."  We  repay  his  love  with  our  gratitude,  and 
strive  to  vindicate  his  wisdom  by  our  works.  But  as  predicted 
the  final  chapter  of  his  long  and  useful  life,  having  already 
passed  his  eighty-third  year,  was  soon  to  be  written,  for  on 
Thursday  afternoon,  October  7th,  just  as  "  the  sun  went 
down,"  as  was  true  of  his  close  and  kind  friend,  Dr.  McGuffey, 
two  and  a  half  years  before,  God  touched  him  and  he  slept. 
Two  days  later,  Saturday  morning,  Qth,  his  funeral  was  held 
in  the  Episcopal  Church,  Charlottesville,  where  the  services 
were  conducted  by  the  venerable  rector,  Dr.  Hanckel,  for 
many  years  his  warm  personal  friend  and  spiritual  adviser. 
On  that  morning  Charlottesville  sent  a  committee  of  her  good 
citizens  to  Edgehill  as  a  respectful  escort  to  the  funeral  cortege, 
which  along  the  route  became  augmented  by  kind  friends 
on  horse,  foot,  or  in  carriages.  At  the  eastern  limits  of  the 
town  many  citizens  aligned  themselves  on  one  side  of  the 
public  road,  opposite  the  University  professors  and  students, 
and  stood  with  uncovered  heads  until  the  procession  passed, 
then  joined  it.  The  church  was  crowded,  many  stores  were 
closed  and  most  of  the  business  of  the  town  suspended  during 
the  solemn  hour.  Afterwards  the  procession  proceeded  to 
Monticello,  where,  in  the  neglected  but  hallowed  graveyard, 
near-by  his  illustrious  grandfather,  father  and  mother,  and 
many  others  so  near  and  dear,  the  remains  were  interred. 
His  eight  grandsons  were  the  pall-bearers,  and  the  last  touch- 
ing service  at  the  grave  was  the  singing  of  a  hymn  by  his 
former  slaves,  and  the  hiding  from  view  of  the  earthly  mound 
by  beautiful  flowers  contributed  mostly  by  the  young  ladies 
of  his  daughter's  school  in  recognition  of  a  respect  and  love 
for  him  kindred  to  filial  affection. 

Home-letter,  Friday,  October  1st.  "Little  has  transpired  since  my 
postal  of  yesterday.  Continue  to  meet  many  familiar  faces  that  gladden 
our  hearts,  and  even  more  unfamiliar  ones  that  ever  extend  the  hand 
of  proffered  friendship.  Quite  a  number  of  us  journeyed  to  the  depot 
this  noon  to  see  others  arrive,  among  them  my  friend  Davis,  who  is  such 
a  fine  fellow,  but  unfortunately  of  a  very  nervous  temperament,  and 
therefore  requires  absolute  quietness  for  successful  study  and  results. 


310  UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA 

Our  rooms,  however,  in  juxtaposition  and  in  the  supposed  most  quiet 
spot  of  the  University,  will  prove,  I  trust,  all  that  is  desired  and  needed. 
I  am  sandwiched  between  him  and  Harding — both  moral,  honorable  and 
nard  students,  so  you  can  judge  your  son  'by  the  company  he  keeps.'" 

Sunday  afternoon,  October  loth.  "  My  last  visitor  has  just  left,  so 
will  turn  to  your  letter.  .  .  .  We  all  have  now  about  dropped  into 
working  form,  as  the  professors  are  hurrying  along  at  a  rapid  pace, 
but  not  beyond  our  power  of  endurance.  I  have  purchased  several  good- 
size  pictures — Monticello,  Perry  on  Lake  Erie,  etc. — so  that  with  my  large 
map  of  North  America,  numerous  framed  photographs,  arranged  mostly 
in  groups,  hanging  book-shelves,  clock,  festooned  mirror,  easy  chair,  large 
center-table — made  of  two  ordinary  tables  joined  together — with  red  and 
black  cover,  argand-burner — for  I  now  burn  gas  in  addition  to  my  student- 
lamp — curtains  and  drapery  to  window,  red  and  green  carpet,  etc.,  my  room 
presents  an  air  of  decided  comfort,  indeed,  a  positive  attractiveness  to 
me,  in  consequence  of  which  I  am  always  glad  to  return  to  it  and  there 
stay,  especially  at  night  when  the  abundance  of  blended  light  lends  ad- 
ditional warmth  and  charm.  .  .  .  You  may  say  to  Mr.  Watts,  that 
he  is  unfamiliar  with  facts,  when  he  says  Randolph-Macon  College  is 
the  equal  of  the  University,  and  that  any  knowing  Virginian  could  soon 
convince  him  of  his  error,  provided  he  is  open  to  conviction.  I  am 
intimate  with  several  here  now  who  were  once  students  there,  and  they 
imply  a  vast  difference  in  favor  of  the  University."  .  .  . 

Sunday  night,  October  I7th.  "The  bell  has  just  rung  for  evening 
Chapel  service,  but  haying  attended  two  Bible  classes  and  heard  one 
sermon,  will  forego  this  evening's  service  in  order  to  write  to  you. 
Yours  was  not  received  until  5.30  o'ck,  yesterday — the  three  hours' 
delay  being  due  to  an  accident  to  the  mail  train — engine  jumping  the  track 
somewhere  between  here  and  Alexandria,  an  occurrence  no  means  rare 
on  this  poorly  equipped  and  engineered  road,  as  scarcely  a  week  passes 
without  some  sort  of  serious  irregularity.  The  night  before  reaching 
here  this  session  an  engine  blew  up  while  in  rapid  motion,  killing  several 
train  attendants,  but  this  must  not  alarm  you.  ...  So  far  we  are 
being  fed  very  satisfactorily  this  year — tomatoes,  corn,  sweet  and  Irish 
potatoes  being  the  stand-by  vegetables,  while  mutton,  beef,  veal,  turkey 
and  ham  include  our  meats.  My  appetite  is  keen  and  my  weight  one 
hundred  and  fifty-two  pounds,  which  may  increase  eight  or  ten  more  by 
Christmas,"  etc. 

Sunday  night,  October  24th.  "  The  clock  has  just  struck  seven,  and 
now  will  spend  an  hour  with  you  in  spite  of  feeling  rather  tired  after 
another  trip  to  Monticello.  I  went  to  the  early  Bible  class  with  Davis 
and  thereafter  we  walked  down  town  to  church,  returning  at  i  o'ck. 
After  dinner  friend  Wilson,  from  Alabama,  and  I  left  on  our  tramp  in 
which  we  suffered  from  the  heat  as  though  mid-summer,  but  in  spite 
of  that  reached  the  mountain's  summit  ten  minutes  after  four,  and  a 
few  minutes  later  found  us  again  going  through  the  dismantled  mansion. 
It  is  still  kept  by  the  same  old  white  man,  grayed  and  enfeebled  by  years, 
who  with  his  family  are  the  sole  occupants.  He  knows  much  Jeffersonian 
history,  some  a  trifle  mixed,  imbibes  the  spirit,  but  carries  in  his  veins 
not  a  vestige  of  the  immortal  blood.  The  house  is  even  more  dilapidated, 
if  possible,  than  at  my  last  year's  visit,  as  no  one  yet  drives  a  nail  or 
makes  effort  at  the  slightest  repair.  Most  of  the  glass  in  the  windows 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  311 

and  doors  is  either  cracked  or  entirely  out,  so  that  the  chilling  blasts 
of  the  approaching  winter,  as  in  the  past,  will  continue  to  chant  its  weird 
song.  The  old  man  gave  me  a  very  small  piece  of  wood  from  the  dis- 
integrating sulky  body,  stored  in  the  attic,  in  which  Mr.  Jefferson  made 
distant  trips — to  Richmond,  Philadelphia,  etc.  Nothing  remains  of  the 
gate  at  which  he  and  Lafayette  embraced  each  other  in  tears  of  joy — 
where  his  servants  pulled  him  from  his  carriage  they  had  pushed  up 
the  mountain,  after  disengaging  the  horses,  upon  his  return  as  Minister 
to  France,  and  conveyed  him  on  their  shoulders  to  the  portico — except 
a  single  post,  while  the  walk  thereto  only  retains  a  graded  impression, 
being  overgrown  and  untrodden.  The  graveyard  is  still  the  same  neglected 
spot,  only  one  fresh  mound  with  its  wilted  flowers  marking  any  perceptible 
change — that  of  Thomas  Jefferson  Randolph,  whose  body  was  interred 
there  a  couple  of  weeks  ago.  After  spending  something  over  an  hour, 
we  retraced  our  steps,  reaching  the  University  in  exactly  one  hour,  which 
we  believe  to  be  a  record  breaker.  Nearly  every  one  had  finished  supper, 
so  we  ate  by  ourselves,  being  content  with  milk  and  small  sugar  cakes, 
that  which  we  have  at  every  Sunday  tea.  .  .  .  The  Charlottesville 
National  Bank  closed  its  doors  last  Wednesday,  producing  quite  a  busi- 
ness commotion  in  the  community.  Most  of  the  professors  had  stock 
as  well  as  deposits,  and  the  report  prevails  among  us  students  that  Pro- 
fessor Cabell  may  lose  thirty  thousand  dollars,  Professor  Minor  and  Dr. 
John  Staige  Davis  each  twenty  thousand,  Professor  Peters  three  thousand, 
and  others,  less  amounts.  Two  of  my  friends  had  deposits  there — one  for 
over  a  hundred,  the  other  far  less,  and  it  is  uncertain  how  much  will  be 
returned  to  them.  The  money  of  the  University,  fortunately,  is  deposited 
always  in  Richmond  banks,  consequently  she  does  not  suffer  directly, 
but  it  certainly  is  a  serious  blow  to  Charlottesville  and  her  people."  .  .  . 

Sunday  night,  October  3ist.  "There  is  very  little  transpiring  in  the 
University  precinct  to  abstract  our  attention  from  study,  but  in  the  town 
much  goes  on  to  interest  and  attract,  especially  at  the  Town  Hall,  where 
something  in  the  theatrical  line  can  be  enjoyed  several  nights  each  week. 
Besides  these,  numerous  entertainments  and  sociables,  in  the  homes  con- 
tribute much  pleasure  to  a  certain  society  set.  ...  I  was  called  on  in 
the  Bible  class  this  morning  and  answered,  I  think,  to  general  satisfaction. 
This  class  is  taught  by  Professor  Minor,  9-10  o'ck.,  who  includes  only 
the  New  Testament,  while  that  in  the  afternoon,  3.30-4.30  o'ck.,  by  Pro- 
fessor Davis,  is  restricted  to  the  Old  Testament,  including  the  life  of 
Abraham  and  Christ.  ...  I  am  not  using  a  stove  this  year,  as  mine 
was  nearly  worn  out,  but  an  open  grate  with  soft  coal  instead,  which  is 
claimed  to  be  cheaper  and  more  healthy,  while  the  open  blaze  adds  much 
to  the  general  cheerfulness.  I  wish  you  would  get  from  the  small  desk 
in  my  room  Fewsmith's  English  Grammar  and  my  diplomas,  and  send 
them  to  me  by  express.  ...  I  have  just  purchased  a  new  paragraph 
Bible,  the  first  I  have  ever  seen,  and  like  itjbetter  than  my  old  one  with 
divided  verses.  I  enjoy  reading  them  in  comparison — concordance. 
The  weather  here  this  entire  month  has  been  ideal,  scarcely  a  day  without 
complete  sunshine  and  a  cloudless  sky — in  my  memory  unprecedented. 
Jack-frost,  however,  has  made  his  appearance,  so  that  in  the  crisp  early 
mornings  and  late  evenings  we  take  to  our  overcoats.  .  .  .  For  exer- 
cise we  still  accept  mostly  the  walk  down  town  and  back  between  five 
and  six  every  afternoon — that  being  more  enjoyable  from  so  many 
journeying  together  but  in  small  groups.  Many  students  went  to  Rich- 
mond this  week  for  the  Fair  and  the  unveiling  of  the  Jackson  statue,  etc. 


312  UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA 

Our  former  chaplain,  Rev.  T.  D.  Witherspoon,  delivered 
the  October  Y.  M.  C.  A.  sermon  in  the  Public  Hall  on  the 
text,  "  What  shall  I  do,  then,  with  Jesus,  which  is  called 
Christ?  "  This  kindly  gentleman  I  found  chaplain  upon  reach- 
ing the  University  in  1872,  that  being  his  last  session,  but  the 
associations  of  those  two  years  were  so  pleasant  and  the  mem- 
ories so  dear  that  he  willingly  returned  now  and  then  to  per- 
form a  Christian  service. 

Our  new  chaplain  for  the  coming  period,  Rev.  Robert  J. 
McBryde,  the  immediate  successor  of  Rev.  Samuel  A.  Steel, 
preached  his  introductory  sermon  in  the  chapel,  Sunday  morn- 
ing, October  loth,  from  the  text,  "  For  we  preach  not  our- 
selves but  Christ  Jesus  the  Lord."  The  doctor  was  rather 
tall  and  slender,  with  a  strong,  clear  voice,  and  entered  heartily 
into  the  activities  of  the  University  as  well  as  the  companion- 
ship of  the  students. 

Early  in  the  month  my  boon  companion,  Davis,  was  elected 
business  editor  of  the  Magazine,  and  in  commenting  upon  his 
selection  the  editors  in  the  November  number  gave  among 
others  this  commendable  sentiment :  "  His  energy  and  en- 
thusiasm are  known  to  all  of  us,  and  when  we  say  that  he 
has  already,  by  his  own  unaided  efforts,  secured  us  seventy 
subscribers,  we  say  enough  to  prove  his  eminent  fitness  for  the 
position."  Not  only  was  he  successful  in  getting  subscribers, 
but  equally  so  in  advertisements  from  merchants  and  trades- 
men of  the  entire  community.  Our  daily  afternoon  walks 
together  down  town  invariably  carried  some  specific  mission 
besides  exercise — that  pertaining  to  the  welfare  of  our  publi- 
cation, either  in  subscriptions,  advertisements  or  arrangements 
with  the  Chronicle's  foreman,  Mr.  Ackerly,  concerning  print- 
ing and  payments.  Davis  was  a  thorough  business  man, 
having  enjoyed  some  years  of  active  experience  before  seeking 
a  University  training,  which  with  his  age — twenty-six  or 
seven — sprightly  manner  and  natural  tact  caused  him  to  be 
well-rounded  by  a  generous  contact  with  men  of  affairs.  He 
touched  nothing  half-heartedly,  or  that  failed;  lived  up  to 
every  obligation,  misrepresented  nothing,  did  friendly  acts 
wherever  he  could,  and  was  always  the  same — true  as  steel. 
The  Magazine  made  a  most  happy  choice  in  him,  as  he  not 
only  liquidated  its  previous  year's  indebtedness  of  more  than 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  313 

a  hundred  dollars,  but  passed  over  to  his  successor  a  substan- 
tial sum. 

We  regretted  to  see  no  longer  around  the  University  the 
familiar  form  of  Professor  Boeck,  whose  resignation  had  been 
accepted  during  the  summer.  His  position  was  not  filled  until 
the  middle  of  October  by  the  appointment  of  Mr.  William 
Mynn  Thornton,  a  very  brilliant  former  graduate,  who  had 
only  left  us  two  years  before,  consequently  was  well-known  to 
many  of  us  older  students.  Contrary  to  expectation  we  heard 
nothing  more  of  Gen.  Preston's  Semi-Centennial  speech.  It 
surely  was  a  thing  of  the  past  and  had  only  produced  momen- 
tarily a  slight  ripple  upon  the  quieting  waters.  The  Alumni 
had  published  in  separate  pamphlets  Mr.  Hunter's  address  and 
Mr.  Lucas'  poem,  and  these  alone  were  intended  to  perpetuate 
the  literary  efforts  of  that  historic  occasion. 

Home-letter,  Sunday  night,  November  I4th.  "  The  election  passed 
off  quietly  in  Charlottesville,  resulting  in  two  white  and  one  colored 
man  for  the  Legislature.  I  am  glad  the  State  has  gone  Democratic, 
that  which  was  somewhat  in  doubt  owing  to  the  very  large  negro  popu- 
lation. Sorry  that  Ohio,  Massachusetts  and  Pennsylvania  still  remain 
in  the  Republican  ranks,  but  that  is  nothing  more  than  can  be  expected 
when  we  consider  their  past  history  and  present  interests.  My  next  door 
neighbor,  Harding  has  discontinued  the  Scientific  American  in  favor  of 
the  New  York  Tribune  (semi-weekly),  and  this  he  frequently  passes 
over  for  my  pleasure.  He  is  a  fine  character — quiet,  thoughtful  and 
thorough — always  striving  after  both  sides  of  a  proposition.  The  one  in 
politics  he  gets  from  his  home  papers,  the  other  he  certainly  finds  in  the 
Tribune,  which  is  partisan  beyond  reason,  often  causing  us  to  dissent — 
he,  though  a  Virginian,  less  than  I.  It  is  now  filled  with  the  great  Repub- 
lican gains,  possibilities  and  merits,  much  to  our  disgust,  but  we  are  hope- 
ful that  it  will  soon  tire  of  such  wasted  energies.  ...  I  understand 
that  our  former  Professor  Boeck  is  in  Philadelphia  endeavoring  to  secure 
a  position  as  mechanical  engineer,  or  as  one  of  the  supervisors  of  Ma- 
chinery Hall  during  the  Centennial.  I  hope  he  will  be  successful,  for  he 
possesses  much  merit  and  ability,  although  oftentimes  misapplied  and 
directed,  but  under  certain  powers  of  limitation  could  make  himself 
most  useful.  He  needs  the  revenue,  for  while  not  absolutely  improvident, 
he  has  never  husbanded  his  resources  when  they  were  abundant  in  order 
.to  bridge  over  the  proverbial  rainy  day  that  seemingly  from  necessity 
drops  into  so  many  lives."  .  .  . 

Sunday  night,  December  I2th.  "This  has  been  an  ideal  winter  day, 
but  in  spite  of  the  low  temperature  I  have  been  mostly  on  the  go.  At- 
tended the  morning  Bible  class  up  here  and  the  Episcopal  Church  service 
down  town.  After  dinner  took  a  healthy  walk  with  Wright,  but  returned 
in  time  for  Professor  Davis'  Bible  lecture.  He  is  still  on  Genesis — the 
book  of  so  many  improbabilities  from  the  finite  standpoint — which  he 
elucidates  beautifully,  using  comely  explanations,  his  own  and  others, 


3H  UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA 


>t  fail  to  reconcile  and  satisfy  the  rational  and  willing  mind 
ds  day  of  advancement,  higher-criticism  and  unbelief.     I  have 

T  +       *  «•  *  •  *A^f*.\ 


that  cannot 
even  in  this 

already  begun  to  count  the  days  before  reaching  home,  in  spite  of  the 
doubtful  wisdom  of  taking  the  week  off,  and  I  trust  it  will  add  strength 
to  my  half  contention — that  each  year  of  a  student's  life  should  be  marked 
prominently  and  pleasantly  by  at  least  one  event,  and  nothing  is  so 
well-calculated  to  do  this  as  Christmas  vacation.  Anyway,  I  feel  confi- 
dent the  loss  can  be  made  up  satisfactorily,  and  you  know,  where  there 
is  a  will  there  is  a  way.  My  next  door  neighbor,  Davis,  is  a  much  closer 
student  than  I,  and  he  has  decided  to  spend  four  or  five  days  with  his 
sister  at  Hollins  Institute,  Botetourt  Co.,  where  she  is  a  student  and  where 
they  give  two  weeks'  holiday.  The  homes  of  many  girls  are  even  too 
remote  to  get  much  out  of  a  visit  of  such  length,  so  they  remain  at  the 
school  to  enjoy  themselves  after  the  fashion  laid  out  by  their  principal, 
Mr.  Cocke,  who  I  understand  is  a  very  considerate  and  resourceful  man, 
allowing  those  under  his  charge  to  receive  attention,  during  festive  sea- 
sons, from  their  own  and  others'  brothers.  Davis  has  insisted  many 
times  upon  me  joining  him  on  the  trip,  predicting,  in  fact  promising,  a 
royal  time  for  us  both,  and  while  I  recognize  that  such  an  outing  would 
be  delightful,  I  equally  realize  my  first  duty  is  to  parents,  etc." 

I  procured  from  Dr.  Harrison,  Thursday  morning,  Dec. 
23rd,  my  leave  of  absence  for  eight  days,  and  in  the  afternoon 
secured  thereto  the  signatures  of  Professors  Mallet,  Holmes 
and  Smith.  As  my  train  did  not  leave  until  after  i  o'ck, 
that  night  all  duties  were  performed  as  usual  up  to  near  that 
hour,  when  a  little  time  was  taken  to  say  good-bye  to  club- 
mates  and  friends,  and  in  packing  my  grip  so  as  to  leave  my 
room  precisely  at  midnight — that  being  considered  abundant 
time  for  walking  leisurely  to  the  depot.  At  the  appointed  mo- 
ment, when  everything  had  been  put  to  order  in  my  room — 
window-shutters  closed,  fire  and  gas  out — I  picked  up  my  traps, 
opened  and  passed  out  the  door,  giving  it  not  an  intentional 
hard  pull,  but  one  in  reality  that  appeared  to  make  an  unus- 
ually loud  noise.  At  the  same  moment  I  experienced  an  un- 
steadiness on  my  feet,  and  heard,  as  though  coming  from  out 
of  the  valley  in  front,  a  distinct  rumbling  report,  which  I  ac- 
cepted to  emanate  from  the  near-by  Southern  Railroad — either 
an  explosion  of  a  locomotive  or  a  terrific  impact  of  freight  cars, 
whose  counterpart  in  less  degree  I  hitherto  had  occasionally 
experienced.  The  hour  otherwise  was  deadly  quiet  and  seem- 
ingly only  myself  and  the  myriads  of  twinkling  stars  stood 
visible  sentinels  of  what  had  occurred.  In  a  moment  I  re- 
opened my  room-door  with  night-latch  key,  but  finding  nothing 
wrong  or  disturbed  within,  hastily  re-locked  and  turned  my 
steps  trainward.  As  I  proceeded  in  the  dark  and  quiet  the 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  315 

thought  of  a  possible  earthquake  never  suggested  itself,  nor 
did  it  until  next  morning  when  reaching  Washington  the 
penetrating  monosyllabic  songs  of  the  newsboys  proclaimed 
the  fact.  A  paper  soon  aroused  my  lethargic  mind  to  the  sig- 
nificance of  my  midnight  realization,  as  I  read  the  bold  head- 
lines: "Earthquake  at  12.02  o'ck,  A.  M.  Felt  throughout 
Virginia,  Maryland  and  the  South.  The  most  severe  in  years, 
etc."  Happily  this  so  far  has  been  my  only  vivid  experience  of 
earth's  tottering  equilibrium. 

After  a  delightful  visit  of  a  week  I  left  home  on  my  return, 
Jan.  i,  1876 — a  day  ever  memorable  with  me  from  its  beauty 
and  mildness,  one  of  the  dozen  to  which  I  frequently  refer 
as  possessing  some  striking  characteristics  beyond  all  others. 
I  found  Davis  and  most  of  the  Christmas  absentees  back  in 
harness,  and  soon  pulled  myself  together  as  though  nothing 
unusual  had  come  into  my  plodding  life. 

In  spite  of  the  severities  of  January  and  February  weather, 
the  5  o'ck.  walk  to  and  from  the  town  was  omitted  seldom, 
as  heavy  overcoats,  shoes  and  rubbers  amply  protected  against 
any  possible  risk.  Indeed,  this  form  of  exercise  seemed  re- 
ligiously observed  by  the  majority — as  though  essential,  like 
food,  for  material  preservation  and  existence. 

Harding  was  not  a  member  of  any  fraternity,  having  boldly 
resisted  the  importunities  of  many,  including  the  best,  while 
Davis  belonged  to  one  and  I  to  another.  Yet  we  three  ap- 
peared perfectly  congenial,  which,  together  with  proximity  of 
rooms — in  regular  sequence,  49,  50,  51 — made  us  see  more 
of  each  than  of  others,  and  occasioned  little  surprise  at  our 
journeying  to  meals  and  elsewhere  in  companionship — a  trio 
often  observed  alone  at  the  beginning  of  a  stroll  but  usually 
with  augmented  numbers  at  the  finish,  including  fraternity 
members  and  other  friends.  Harding  also  was  a  confirmed 
recluse  from  ladies'  society,  and,  although  polished,  agreeable, 
affable  and  thoroughly  acquainted  with  social  amenities,  al- 
ways declined  alike  the  bidding  of  young  and  old — even  a 
beautiful  coquette  possessed  for  him  no  attraction,  far  less  a 
charm.  It  was  here  that  he  again  differed  somewhat  from 
Davis  and  myself,  since  we  unhesitatingly  accepted  in  that 
direction  "  a  night  off  "  whenever  its  passing  was  believed 
to  carry  a  compensating  pleasure.  While  recognizing  our 


316  UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA 

residence  there  primarily  for  study  and  a  university  training, 
we  did  not  consider  that  to  be  all  of  a  rounded  education,  but 
this  to  be  made  up  of  many  elements,  one  of  which — contact 
with  ladies  and  their  homes — ought  not  to  be  neglected,  by 
no  means  despised.  Of  course,  this  trivial  difference  in  taste 
had  not  the  slightest  influence  on  our  fondness  and  friendship 
for  one  another,  as  it  seldom  was  referred  to  and  only  then 
for  amusement  and  laughter. 

Home-letter,  Sunday  night,  Feb.  I3th.  "A  kind  of  dancing  academy 
has  been  started  in  Charlottesville,  and  as  I  know  little  and  Davis  less 
of  the  art,  some  of  our  friends  have  insisted  upon  us  joining.  There  is 
so  much  dancing  here  in  its  multiple  forms,  and  Davis,  observing  the  same 
conditions  at  Rollins  Institute  when  there  at  Christmas,  seems  quite  anx- 
ious to  learn.  Before  taking  the  step,  however,  he  thought  it  best  to 
advise  his  father  and  at  least  get  his  approval,  so  wrote  him  among  other 
things,  '  that  in  order  to  go  in  the  first  society  of  Virginia  one  must  know 
how  to  dance,'  whereupon,  with  much  disappointment,  his  father  replied, 
'  if  dancing  is  a  requisite  for  the  first  society  of  Virginia,  I  want  you  to 
go  in  the  second/  This  has  checked  a  much-contemplated  pleasure  for 
him,  and  I  am  glad  that  you  never  had  any  objection  to  me  Cultivating 
that  line  of  amusement.  It  is  usually  simple  and  innocent,  but  like  every- 
thing else  can  be  the  cause  of  physical  and  moral  harm,  etc." 

Sunday  night,  Feb.  27th.  "  Intermediate  examinations  are  absorbing 
now  most  of  our  thoughts.  I  am  through  with  two  but  two  more  come 
within  the  next  month,  after  which  I  shall  enjoy  a  short  breathing  spell 
— until  nearing  the  Finals.  Apart  from  study  some  of  us  continue  to  ac- 
cept a  few  worldly  pleasures  in  sight,  and  this  week  has  been  unusually 
active,  as  several  lady  friends  in  the  town  have  given  receptions  to  which 
I  was  invited.  The  one  of  greatest  proportions  was  that  of  Miss  Emma 
Antrim's,  who,  owing  to  natural  gifts,  educational  accomplishments, 
abundant  wealth  and  handsome  home,  possesses  all  the  essentials  for 
elaborate  entertaining.  She  certainly  tried  herself  on  this  occasion,  pro- 
viding something  beyond  the  average  function  here.  Music  and  dancing 
were  the  leading  enjoyments,  although  a  splendid  spread  was  served, 
this  being  furnished  by  a  Richmond  caterer.  Miss  Antrim  has  some 
staunch  friends  among  the  students,  several  of  whom  are  invited  on  Sun- 
days to  dine  with  herself,  mother  and  father — the  latter  a  venerable,  fine- 
looking  gentleman.  I  was  one  of  the  fortunates  several  weeks  ago,  etc." 

Among  the  new  students  of  this  year  was  Mr.  Edward  H. 
Squibb,  Brooklyn,  N.  Y.,  who,  rinding  us  without  any  per- 
manent gymnasium,  generously  offered  to  provide  the  neces- 
sary outfit  if  the  University  would  house  it.  During  the  early 
part  of  the  previous  session  the  Dining  Hall  at  the  south  end 
of  East  Range,  kept  for  many  years  by  Mr.  Jefferies,  was 
closed,  he  disposing  of  his  lease  to  the  proprietors  of  the  other 


Professor  Francis  H.  Smith,  L/Iv.D.,  at  forty-three 
1829— 

See  Page  384 


FACING  316 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  317 

two  hotels — the  one  Miss  Ross,  the  other  Mr.  Massie — and  they 
taking  care  of  his  patronage.  This  hall  was  considered  the 
only  available  and  suitable  room,  consequently  Mr.  Squibb 
had  installed  into  it  all  the  appliances  and  apparatus  it  could 
accept  conveniently,  presenting  the  same  to  the  University, 
thus  establishing  the  first  permanent  gymnasium  under  the 
name  of,  "  The  Gymnasium  Association."  This  was  opened 
without  form  or  ceremony  shortly  after  Christmas,  and  there- 
after many  accepted  there  the  various  forms  of  exercise  in 
preference  to  the  hitherto  accustomed  walks,  especially  on 
rainy  days.  The  room  was  accessible  between  the  hours  of 
7  A.  M.  and  7  P.  M.  to  all  those  paying  the  annual  membership 
fee  of  one  dollar  and  the  monthly  dues  of  fifteen  cents. 

Rev.  W.  U.  Murkland,  a  prominent  Presbyterian  minister 
of  Baltimore,  delivered  the  February  Y.  M.  C.  A.  sermon  in 
the  Public  Hall,  upon  the  career  of  Solomon.  His  beautiful 
flow  of  English  and  varied  styles  of  oratory  had  seldom  been 
surpassed  in  my  day  at  the  University,  sufficing  to  please  a 
very  large  and  appreciative  audience. 

The  Faculty,  in  December,  recommended  to  the  two  Literary 
Societies  that  the  prize  debates  be  two  instead  of  five — the 
number  last  year — a  step  gladly  acquiesced  in  and  the  source 
of  no  surprise,  as  even  one  of  those  long  sittings,  from  4  to  1 1 
o'ck,  P.  M.,  with  a  short  intermission  for  supper,  was  no 
doubt  quite  sufficient  punishment  to  older  men,  as  a  rule  in- 
tolerant of  youthful  effusions  and  oratorical  short-comings. 
This  year  Professors  Gildersleeve,  Holmes  and  Venable  consti- 
tuted the  electoral  committee  of  the  Jeff.,  and  Harrison, 
Smith  and  Southall  that  of  the  Wash.,  while  the  societies  at 
one  of  their  November  meetings  announced  the  dates,  subjects 
and  contestants  for  orator's  and  debater's  medals: 

Jeff. — Dec.  i8th.  Should  a  representative  be  bound  by  the  instructions 
of  his  constituents? 

Feb.  26th.  Would  centralization  of  power  in  the  hands  of  the  Fed- 
eral Government  be  advantageous? 

March  25th.  Should  the  National  Government  have  a  monopoly  of 
the  railroads  and  telegraph  lines?" 

Contestants:  Messrs.  L.  M.  Kean,  B  Peyton,  A.  P.  Thom,  Lyon  G. 
Tyler,  W.  D.  White. 

Wash. — Jan.  2Qth.  Is  there  more  to  admire  or  condemn  in  the  character 
of  Cromwell? 


318  UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA 

April    I5th.     Had    Queen   Elizabeth    a   valid   title   to   the    Crown   of 

England  ? 
Contestants :     Messrs.  T.  E.  Blakey,  J.  D.  Colley,  J.  S.  Glaze,  B.  W. 

Hirsh,  J.  H.   L.  King,  R.   S.   Minor,   W.   McK.   Murrell,  G.  D. 

Peters,  N.  B.  Wescott,  C  R.  Whipple,  L.  Wood. 

These  societies  elected  their  Final  Presidents  by  open  ballot, 
Saturday  night,  April  ist,  the  events  being  marked  by  un- 
usual quietness  and  well-tempered  feeling,  resulting  in  favor 
of  Messrs.  H.  H.  Downing,  Va.  (Jeff.),  and  F.  E.  Conway, 
Ark.  (Wash.).  And  the  "Electoral  Committees"  of  the 
Faculty  exercised  no  delay  in  announcing  their  awards  to  the 
most  deserving:  Jeff. — Mr.  Bernard  Peyton,  Va.,  medalist; 
Mr.  Lyon  G.  Tyler,  Va.,  orator,  who  resigning,  Mr.  A.  P. 
Thorn  was  selected  upon  a  third  debate.  Wash. — Mr.  T.  E. 
Blakey,  Va.,  medalist;1  Mr.  J.  D.  Colley,  Ga.,  orator. 

Near  the  middle  of  the  session  Davis  assumed  the  Superin- 
tendency  of  the  Chapel  Sunday  School,  which  compelled  him 
to  miss  thereafter  Professor  Minor's  Bible  Class — both  com- 
ing at  the  same  hour,  9-10  o'ck,  A.  M. — although  I  con- 
tinued along  in  the  good  work. 

Home-letter,  April  i6th.  "  This  has  been  a  typical  spring  day,  and 
with  it  Davis  and  I  donned  our  new  suits,  he  to  attend  the  Sunday  School 
and  I  the  Bible  class,  but  afterwards  to  join  each  other  for  down  town 
church.  We  heard  a  Baptist  sermon  but  immediately  thereafter  slipped 
over  to  the  Episcopal  Church  to  witness  its  outpouring — a  favorite  trick 
of  many  students — after  enjoying  a  good  sermon  at  either  the  Presbyterian 
or  Baptist  Church,  where  the  ministers  are  more  youthful,  modern  and  to 
our  liking,  to  seek  the  Episcopal,  having  longer  service,  in  order  to 
watch  the  Edgehill  and  other  pretty  girls,  of  which  there  is  quite  a  sprink- 
ling, march  out.  There  is  to  be  a  baptism  at  the  Baptist  Church  to-night, 
where  several  will  by  that  act  be  consecrated  to  the  faith,  and  we  expect 
to  attend.  I  was  present  some  weeks  ago  when  one  of  our  mutual  lady 
friends  accepted  the  immersion — to  me  seemingly  a  cold  procedure  for 
other  than  mid-summer  weather.  The  dipping  font  is  under  and  back  of 
the  large  pulpit,  being  several  feet  long,  wide  and  deep,  with  sufficient 
water  to  drown  oneself  should  that  be  attempted  or  desired."  .  .  . 

Sunday  afternoon,  May  2ist.  "  This  is  truly  a  fine  summer  day,  and 
its  brightness  has  been  enjoyed  thoroughly  after  nearly  two  weeks  of 
cloud  and  rain.  Despite  a  slight  mist  on  Wednesday  afternoon  quite  a 
party  of  us  drove  out  to  Verdant  Lawn,  the  home  of  Rev.  John  T,  Ran- 
dolph, to  partake  of  the  season's  first  cherries,  of  which  his  farm  produces 
profusely  the  best.  Several  ladies  were  visiting  there  thus  making  the 
occasion  most  delightful  all  around.  Mrs.  Randolph  is  a  very  hospitable 
hostess,  and  her  young  daughter,  Julia,  possesses  many  attractions  that 
charm  and  fascinate.  .  .  .  Davis  insisted  this  morning  that  I  go  around 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  319 

to  Sunday  School  with  him  and  attempt  to  manage  the  organ.  The  hymns 
were  familiar  and  simple  so  I  stumbled  through  them  in  some  fashion, 
but  near  the  close  the  regular  organist,  Steele,  made  his  appearance,  when 
I  gladly  turned  over  to  him  the  final  notes  of  praise,  remaining,  however, 
until  the  end  to  share  in  the  singing.  Afterwards  we  attended  church 
down  town.  .  .  .  There  is  considerable  talk  among  the  students  about 
the  Centennial,  which  most  are  planning  to  visit  sometime  during  its  prog- 
ress. Many  will  go  home  next  month  by  way  of  Philadelphia,  some  will 
take  it  in  during  the  summer  and  others  on  their  return  here  in  the  fall. 
Anyway,  I  expect  to  see  many  familiar  faces  there  in  the  coming  vacation 
months,"  etc. 

Throughout  April  and  May  evening  religious  meetings  were 
held  in  the  Chapel  under  the  supervision  of  the  chaplain  and 
a  number  of  the  more  capable  and  devout  students.  The  ex- 
ercises consisted  of  singing,  prayer  and  a  short  talk  upon  the 
chapter  read  by  whoever  in  rotation  had  charge.  Davis  was 
always  one  of  the  master-spirits,  who  often  influenced  me  to 
be  his  companion,  and  the  half-hours  there  spent  in  worship 
were  always  serious,  delightful  and  healthful.  The  attendance 
usually  was  large,  resulting  in  a  decided  power  for  good  to 
the  student-body.  I  only  recall  one  departure  from  the  golden 
rule — a  perversion  of  the  Chapel's  sanctity — when  a  ripple  of 
laughter  pervaded  the  entire  assemblage,  occasioned  by  the 
nervous  trepidation  of  a  student  called  upon  to  lead  in  prayer. 
With  the  first  few  sentences  his  voice  became  more  and  more 
tremulous  until  he  was  so  choked  as  to  be  unable  to  articulate, 
and  after  a  minute's  silence  some  one  wisely  relieved  the  em- 
barrassing suspense  by  exclaiming  boldly,  Amen,  thus  allow- 
ing us  all  to  uplift  our  bended  heads  in  a  reverential  mood 
mingled  with  considerable  merriment.  In  conversation  after- 
wards with  the  unfortunate  young  man,  he  was  unable  to 
explain  the  mystery  of  his  faltering. 

Home-letter,  Sunday  afternoon,  June  4th.  "  I  see  from  che  papers 
that  the  Maryland  Democrats  met  in  Baltimore  last  week  and  selected 
delegates  to  the  St.  Louis  Convention — probably  to  support  Mr.  Bayard 
for  the  Presidency.  Many  other  states  are  having  conventions  for  a 
similar  purpose,  which  I  hope  will  be  fruitful  of  a  Democratic  President. 
Mr.  Elaine  seems  to  be  spoken  of  most  prominently  as  the  Republican 
candidate.  .  .  .  Everything  here  is  passing  along  pleasantly,  although 
it  has  been  very  warm  for  the  past  week,  conflicting  seriously  with  one's 
inclination  for  study.  To-day  has  been  murky  and  rainy,  though  now  it 
looks  like  clearing,  which  has  had  one  good  effect — laying  the  dust  that 
had  become  quite  an  inch  ^  deep.  The  country  looks  beautiful  and  active, 
as  fields  of  corn  five  or  six  inches  high,  alternating  with  those  of  green 
grass,  orchards,  or  yellowish  wheat,  and  others  of  freshly  prepared  red- 


320  UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA 

dish  soil  in  readiness  for  seeding,  suggest  much  industry  as  well  as 
present  a  happy  contrast  in  the  undulating  landscape.  .  .  .  Davis  and 
I  indulged  during  the  winter  in  apples  and  many  pounds  of  dates,  as 
they  regulated  our  systems  incident  to  a  sedentary  life,  but  now  we  are 
enjoying  strawberries  and  cherries — the  former  coming  to  us  on  the 
table  twice  a  week.  I  am  quite  well  again,  feeling  king  over  last  Sunday 
when  I  wrote  you.  Time  is  drawing  near  to  a  close  for  hard  studying, 
as  I  have  my  last  examinations  next  Saturday  and  to-morrow  week,"  etc. 

Tuesday  night,  June  2Oth.  "  I  stood  my  last  examination  yesterday — 
went  into  the  room  at  8  o'ck,  A.  M.,  and  came  out  at  6  o'ck,  P.  M., 
feeling  pretty  well  fagged  out.  A  good  night's  rest  and  a  lazy  day 
have  made  me  myself  again.  I  have  stood  the  ordeal  this  year  better 
than  ever  before — one  year  you  recall  I  missed  them  all  owing  to  a  spell 
of  sickness  that  confined  me  to  the  Infirmary.  .  .  .  Davis  and  I  went 
down  town  to  church  Sunday,  and  remained  until  afternoon,  taking 
dinner  with  one  of  the  ministers,  Rev.  Dr.  Tupper.  At  night  we  heard 
a  very  enjoyable  address  in  the  Public  Hall,  by  Rev.  Dr.  Hawthorn,  of 
New  York,  although  originally  from  the  South.  The  '  Finals '  begin  next 
Sunday,  lasting  through  Thursday.  Many  students  have  already  left  for 
home,  some  going  by  the  way  of  the  Centennial  and  others  will  follow 
right  after  the  Commencement.  Davis  leaves  us  to-morrow,  and  you 
cannot  imagine  how  I  grieve  to  see  him  go.  He  is  down  town  to-night 
getting  ticket  and  making  other  necessary  arrangements.  He  goes  to 
Hollins  Institute  for  its  Commencement,  and  thence  accompanies  his  sister 
the  journey  homeward.  I  am  confident  he  dislikes  to  leave  us  all — it  may 
be  forever,"  etc. 

During  these  University  years  considerable  was  heard  of 
the  eccentric  colored  divine  of  Richmond  John  Jasper,  pas- 
tor of  the  Sixth  Mount  Zion  Baptist  Church  whose  one  sermon 
— The  Sun  Do  Move — had  brought  him  before  the  world's 
footlights  more  in  the  sense  of  ridicule  than  otherwise.  His 
untenable  and  defiant  position,  however,  had  not  failed  to  ex- 
cite in  most  of  us  a  degree  of  pity  as  well  as  amusement,  and 
a  decided  curiosity  to  see  and  hear  him  plead  his  cause  when- 
ever an  easy  opportunity  presented.  This  came  to  me  by 
mere  accident  one  Sunday  late  in  June,  when  several  of  us 
were  returning  together  from  church  in  Charlottesville,  upon 
reaching  Mudwall  (called  improperly  Midway  by  most  of  us 
— a  large,  solitary,  unattractive  brick  building  near  the  present 
Union  Station,  whose  lower  floor  was  used  as  a  colored  Bap- 
tist Church,  Delavan,  now  replaced  by  a  very  creditable 
worshiping  edifice),  we  observed  an  overflowing  multitude  and 
heard  floating  in  the  air  the  familiar  phrase — The  Sun  Do 
Move.  At  once  taking  in  the  situation  we  turned  left  down 
the  slight  incline  and  began  quietly  edging  our  way  through 
the  crowd  into  the  church,  where  after  a  fashion  I  found 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  321 

myself  standing  in  front  of  the  noted  minister.  It  was  near 
the  beginning  of  his  sensational  career,  and  the  colored  people 
of  Charlottesville  could  wait  no  longer  the  expounding  of  his 
theory,  consequently  had  invited  him  for  that  purpose  and 
occasion.  I  never  saw  him  except  the  once,  and  the  interim 
has  effaced  some  of  the  detail,  but  I  remember  him  as  a  typical 
negro — no  mulatto — of  good  size,  strong,  massive  face,  re- 
clining forehead,  large  feet  and  hands,  voice  strong  and  used 
with  much  enthusiasm,  vocabulary  often  falsely  applied  and 
pronounced,  to  the  extent  of  provoking,  at  least,  latent  smiles ; 
manner  dignified  and  earnest,  compensating  for  many  other 
weaknesses — age  about  sixty-five.  He  repeated  often  his  text : 
Exodus,  chapter  XV,  verse  3,  "The  Lord  is  a  man  of  war; 
the  Lord  is  His  name,"  and  quoted  many  Biblical  verses  per- 
tinent to  his  theme — showing  the  power  and  greatness  of  God 
— among  them  the  following: 

Revelation,  chapter  VII,  verse  i,  "  And  after  these  things  I 
saw  four  angels  standing  on  the  four  corners  of  the  earth, 
holding  the  four  winds  of  the  earth,  that  the  wind  should  not 
blow  on  the  earth,  nor  on  the  sea,  nor  on  any  tree." 

Psalm,  chapter  CXIII,  verse  3,  "  From  the  rising  of  the  sun 
unto  the  going  down  of  the  same  the  Lord's  name  be  praised." 

Psalm,  chapter  L,  verse  i,  "The  mighty  God,  even  the 
Lord,  hath  spoken,  and  called  the  earth  from  the  rising  of  the 
sun  unto  the  going  down  thereof." 

Malachi,  chapter  I,  verse  n,  "For  from  the  rising  of  the 
sun  even  unto  the  going  down  of  the  same  My  name  shall  be 
great  among  the  Gentiles,  etc." 

Ecclesiastics,  chapter  I,  verse  5,  "  The  sun  also  ariseth,  and 
the  sun  goeth  down,  and  hasteth  to  his  place  where  he  arose." 

Judges,  chapter  XIV,  verse  18,  "And  the  men  of  the  city 
said  unto  him  on  the  seventh  day  before  the  sun  went  down, 
What  is  sweeter  than  honey?  and  what  is  stronger  than  a 
lion?" 

Joshua,  chapter  X,  verses  12,  13,  14,  "  Then  spake  Joshua 
to  the  Lord  in  the  day  when  the  Lord  delivered  up  the  Amor- 
ites  before  the  children  of  Israel,  and  he  said  in  the  sight  of 
Israel,  Sun,  stand  thou  still  upon  Gibeon ;  and  thou,  Moon,  in 
the  Valley  of  Ajalon.  And  the  sun  stood  still,  and  the  moon 
stayed,  until  the  people  had  avenged  themselves  upon  their 


322  UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA 

enemies.  Is  not  this  written  in  the  book  of  Jasher?  So  the 
sun  stood  in  the  midst  of  heaven,  and  hasted  not  to  go  down 
about  a  whole  day.  And  there  was  no  day  like  that  before 
it  or  after  it,  that  the  Lord  hearkened  unto  the  voice  of  a  man ; 
for  the  Lord  fought  for  Israel." 

Upon  these  passages  he  made  some  very  potent  comments, 
affirming  that:  "according  to  the  scriptural  words,  we  were 
living  on  a  four-cornered  earth,  and  if  that  be  true,  my  friends, 
tell  me  how  in  the  name  of  God  can  an  earth  with  four  corners 
be  round  ?  This  theory  of  mine  is  supported  by  the  Bible  and 
it  is  true,  for  if  the  earth  was  like  other  people,  who  differ 
from  me,  say  it  is,  they  would  be  compelled  at  some  places  to 
walk  on  the  ground  with  feet  upward,  as  flies  on  the  ceiling 
of  a  room.  I  prove  the  fact — that  the  sun  moves — by  the 
highest  law  given  to  man.  We  do  not  know  the  distance  of 
the  sun  from  the  earth,  as  there  is  no  way  by  which  a  person 
can  measure  it,  because  no  one  could  take  enough  food  along 
to  last  all  the  way.  How  can  a  man  take  a  tape  line  and 
measure  from  the  earth  to  the  sun  ?  I  appeal  to  you  to  search 
the  Bible  for  all  this  evidence,  and  if  you  fail  to  find  it  hold 
me  responsible,"  etc. 

The  Commencement  was  ushered  in  on  Sunday,  June  25th, 
a  beautiful  day,  as  were  the  two  that  followed,  but  by  Wednes- 
day "  Old  Sol  "  seemingly  raised  the  lid  throughout  the  entire 
eastern  section,  and  so  held  it  for  nearly  four  weeks,  when  he 
granted  only  a  temporary  relief  to  sweltering  humanity.  The 
chaplain,  Rev.  Robert  J.  McBryde,  delivered  in  the  chapel  the 
regular  Sunday  morning  sermon,  but  the  great  event  came  at 
night,  in  the  form  of  Annual  Address  before  the  Y.  M.  C.  A., 
by  Rev.  Moses  D.  Hoge,  a  noted  Presbyterian  divine  of  Rich- 
mond, possessing  a  strong  personality — tall,  slender,  well- 
marked  facial  lines;  voice  decidedly  deep,  attractive  and  son- 
orous; language  and  delivery  imposing,  oratorical.  His  sub- 
ject, "  Nobility  of  Labor,"  was  handled  forcefully,  and  as  it 
was  unhampered  by  manuscript  or  notes,  became  a  veritable 
delight  to  those  present. 

Monday  night — Wash.  Celebration.  After  prayer  by  Rev. 
Robert  J.  McBryde,  the  President,  Mr.  F.  E.  Conway,  Ark.,  in 
a  neat  and  taking  speech  introduced  the  Orator,  Mr.  J.  D. 
Colley,  Ga.,  who  delivered  a  beautiful  address  upon  "  National 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  323 

Progress."  The  President  thereafter  conferred  the  debater's 
medal  upon  Mr.  T.  E.  Blakey,  Va.,  who  received  and  acknowl- 
edged the  same  in  a  brief  but  highly  appropriate  speech. 

Tuesday  night — Jeff.  Celebration.  After  prayer  by  Rev. 
Robert  J.  McBryde,  the  President,  Mr.  H.  H.  Downing,  Va., 
in  several  well-rounded  sentences  introduced  the  Orator,  Mr. 
A.  P.  Thorn,  Va.,  who,  taking  for  his  subject,  "  The  Influence 
of  England's  Universities  on  England's  Greatness,"  showed  a 
remarkable  familiarity  therewith,  as  well  as  a  scope  of  much 
reading  and  thought.  Afterwards  the  President  in  some  com- 
plimentary words  conferred  the  debater's  medal  upon  Mr.  Ber- 
nard Peyton,  Va.,  a  son  of  our  Proctor,  Major  Green  Peyton, 
who  in  acceptance  made  the  most  manly  and  substantial  speech 
I  ever  heard  from  an  undergraduate.  He  was  a  beautiful  de- 
bater— well-read  and  resourceful  under  pressure,  deliberate  and 
self-possessed  under  all  conditions,  and  had  often  in  my  pres- 
ence been  pitted  in  the  Jeff,  meetings  against  those  in  some 
respects  worthy  of  his  steel.  But  of  all  he  seemed  to  possess 
most  stability,  regard  for  adversaries  and  innate  power  to  con- 
vince others  to  his  way  of  thinking.  The  great  philosopher 
and  sage,  Ralph  Waldo  Emerson,  was  upon  the  platform  that 
night  and  apparently  took  delight  in  listening  to  Mr.  Peyton's 
remarks,  congratulating  him  thereafter  with  a  hearty  hand- 
shake in  public  gaze.  This  young  man  would  have  had  a 
brilliant  career  and  the  University  an  unusual  shining  mark, 
had  he  not  a  few  years  thereafter  met  an  untimely  death  in  a 
railroad  accident. 

Wednesday  night — Joint  Celebration.  Undoubtedly  the 
great  drawing  card  of  this  Commencement  was  the  address 
of  Mr.  Emerson's.  This  visit  South  was  his  first  since  the 
Civil  War,  and  was  given  much  publicity  through  press  and 
speech,  so  that  those  present,  in  fact  many  throughout  the 
land,  had  a  high  degree  of  expectation,  which  unfortunately 
in  a  way  was  not  realized.  He  was  accompanied  by  his 
daughter,  as  traveling  companion,  a  seeming  necessity  from 
his  age  and  physical  infirmities,  and  upon  them  reaching  Char- 
lottesville  about  2  o'ck,  the  day  before,  quite  a  number  of 
us  students  were  at  the  depot,  and  at  his  first  appearance  upon 
the  car  platform  readily  recognized  him  from  the  strikingly 
accurate  portraits  that  had  come  under  our  notice.  Professor 


324    ,  UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA 

Holmes,  who  entertained  them  during  their  stay  met  and  took 
them  to  his  home,  and  was  noticeably  attentive  at  every  func- 
tion. It  certainly  was  a  tall,  gaunt  trio  that  filed  into  the 
carriage  at  the  depot  and  drove  away  to  the  University,  ap- 
parently in  haste  to  partake  of  the  good  things  prepared  and 
awaiting,  and  as  they  from  time  to  time  stalked  the  arcades 
and  various  University  walks  their  statures  diminished  not  the 
least — ever  commanded  a  reverential  respect  deserved  by  the 
distinguished. 

In  spite  of  intense  heat  the  Public  Hall  that  night  was 
packed  to  overflowing  with  young  and  old — all  in  perfect 
resignation  to  any  bodily  discomfort  in  lieu  of  the  unusual 
treat  in  store.  I  was  one  of  the  marshals  and  after  my  sup- 
posed duties  were  over  sought  the  only  available  spot — west 
window  nearest  the  stage — where  an  occasional  gentle  breeze 
made  it  possible  for  one's  brain  to  accept  slightly  the  literary 
food  dispensed.  After  prayer  the  presiding  officer,  Mr.  Miles, 
introduced  Mr.  Emerson,  who  arose  with  a  thick  manuscript 
of  the  larger  size  paper  in  hand,  which  he  placed  on  the  stand 
provided  for  the  purpose  and  at  once  began  its  reading.  Every- 
thing was  breathless  silence  for  a  few  moments  and  thereafter 
modest  pandemonium  reigned,  as  his  subject  was  treated  philo- 
sophically and  through  such  a  thin,  weak,  low  voice  that  those 
near  were  unable  to  follow  with  any  satisfaction  and  those 
remote  could  only  see  his  form  and  lip  movement.  He  read 
closely  with  eyes  fixed  continuously  upon  the  page,  apparently 
not  inconvenienced  by  the  heat,  but  chafed  a  little  under  the 
fluttering  commotion  and  restlessness  of  his  hearers — for  each 
lady  had  a  fan  and  a  fellow,  so,  deriving  no  pleasure  from  the 
speaker  and  determined  not  to  let  the  hour  go  idly  unimproved, 
fought  the  air  with  fans  for  physical  comfort,  and  "  spoke  only 
to  be  spoken  to  "  for  mental  enjoyment.  Dr.  Harrison  in  his 
brusque  way  plead  for  attention  and  silence,  while  later  Profes- 
sor Venable  thought  his  word  might  have  a  soothing  effect, 
but  young  America  continued  to  be  defiant.  Mr.  Emerson 
evidently  took  in  the  situation,  for  several  times  during  the 
hour,  by  way  of  reprimand  or  rebuke,  he  quietly  said :  "  I 
see  you  understand  the  drift  of  my  thought,  so  I  will  proceed 
to  the  next  subdivision/'  turning  over  at  the  same  time  quite  a 
dozen  pages  to  remain  forever  unsung. 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  325 

Mr.  Emerson's  address  was  never  published,  at  least  by  the 
University,  and  owing  to  his  great  aversion  to  the  daily  press, 
the  reporters  present  had  much  difficulty  in  catching  anything 
worth  recording.  The  best  account  of  it  occurred  in  The 
World  (New  York),  which  may  well  be  reproduced 
here: 

"  The  World  reporter  called  upon  Mr.  Emerson  and  asked 
him  what  he  proposed  to  do  for  the  readers  of  the  newspapers 
who  could  not  be  present,  offering  to  publish  so  much  of  his 
lecture  as  possessed  contemporaneous  human  interest.  "  No, 
sir,"  said  Mr.  Emerson,  "  I  cannot  permit  it.  I  hate  the  very 
word  paper;  I  don't  read  newspapers,  and  my  addresses  are 
never  reported.  Now,  sometimes,  in  my  State  when  a  new 
college  is  started  they  ask  me  to  read  some  of  my  old  papers, 
if  nothing  else.  Well,  I  say,  '  Yes,  if  I  am  not  to  be  reported ; 
keep  the  reporters  away  or  out,  and  I  will  go  down  and  read 
for  you.'  I  cannot  consent  to  be  reported,  for  I  have  nothing 
to  say  worth  reporting.  So  away."  But  I  can  give  you  some 
idea  of  Mr.  Emerson's  oration,  for  the  reporters  joined  forces 
and  obtained  aid  and  comfort  from  some  who  sat  near  enough 
to  hear  all  that  he  said. 

After  a  long  introduction,  he  announced  his  subject  as 
"  The  Natural  and  Permanent  Function  of  the  Scholar,"  which 
opened  with  an  apostrophe  to  learning,  science  and  philosophy, 
in  which  he  showed  the  usefulness  and  advantages  of  the 
scholar,  theorist  and  speculative  philosopher.  Whatever  can 
be  thought  can  be  spoken,  articulated.  Intellect  is  within 
bounds,  but  the  realm  of  thought  is  boundless.  He  reviewed 
the  organic  nature  of  study,  poetical  successes  and  the  pleas- 
ures of  poets.  Americans  as  a  people  gave  themselves  wonder- 
ful airs,  but  were  a  matter-of-fact  people.  He  cautioned  his 
hearers  against  the  busybodies  in  it,  pretenders  and  dissemblers; 
against  rich  and  official  people.  He  animadverted  on  practical 
men  and  the  scholar.  Men  were  valued  according  to  their 
power  of  expression.  The  favoritism  shown  poets  was  uni- 
versal in  all  lands  (some  poets  ought  to  be  killed).  The 
thoughts  and  the  pleasure  of  the  poet  were  far  above  the  sordid 
gains  of  old  money-bags.  Ideas  are  the  points  of  men  and 
things.  The  lecturer  went  delving  in  the  depths  of  thought; 
the  feats  of  endurance  of  such  men  as  Napoleon,  Hannibal 


326  UNIVERSITY    OF   VIRGINIA 

and  Columbus.  "  Is  an  armed  man  the  only  hero?  "  "he  asked. 
Beating  down  and  uprooting  prejudice  had  its  heroes,  and 
he  is  a  genius  who  accomplishes  the  feat.  How  many  are 
they  of  whom  the  world  has  never  heard?  There  are  men 
with  genius  in  them  who  never  had  it  brought  out. 

As  to  learning  and  culture — as  many  languages  as  a  man 
knows,  so  many  times  is  he  a  man.  I  think  there  are  no  more 
intellectual  people  in  the  world  than  Americans ;  and  then  they 
are  so  curious  and  inquisitive.  It  was  said  that  an  eminent 
Frenchman  was  drowned  in  his  talents.  Talent  was  often 
mistaken  for  genius.  Newspapers,  money  and  power  carry 
their  ends,  and  so  do  Senators  and  rich  men,  rich  men  become 
Senators  nowadays,  regardless  of  merit,  or  position,  or  fitness. 
There  is  something  in  nature  that  demands  the  scholar  to  in- 
terpret her  laws,  to  see  and  identify  their  connection,  where 
others  see  only  fragments.  There  is  a  great  deal  in  nature 
that  all  men  see  and  admire,  but  it  is  the  exclusive  prerogative 
of  the  scholar  to  give  expression  to  it.  The  perfection  of  the 
expression  makes  the  perfection  of  the  scholar.  See  how  the 
world  in  its  progress  has  waited  for  the  scholar  and  his  com- 
ing to  wake  into  existence  by  his  touch  all  the  great  and  useful 
inventions  and  discoveries,  such  as  the  steam  engine  and  the 
electric-telegraph!  The  scholar  will,  of  course,  meet  with 
many  obstacles  that  he  must  surmount;  but  let  him  not  be 
discouraged !  The  key-note  should  be  "  courage  "  if  he  would 
incarnate  the  truth,  and  not  only  make  it  known. 

Kepler,  the  great  astronomer,  when  people  tried  to  dis- 
courage him  in  his  magnificent  discoveries,  said,  "  I  will  wait 
a  hundred  years  for  a  reader,  since  God  has  waited  six  thou- 
sand years  for  an  observer  such  as  I  am."  Genius  seeks  truth 
as  its  object,  and  aims  to  give  that  truth  expression;  but  such 
talent  is  too  often  developed  at  the  expense  of  character,  and 
for  mere  gratification  of  pride. 

Scholarship  is  merely  a  weapon  or  means  by  which  we  are 
to  do  something,  and  achieve  some  desired  result,  but  if  we 
stop  to  admire  the  weapon  we  are  very  apt  to  fail  to  use  it 
for  accomplishing  our  purpose.  If  we  would  use  scholarship 
for  achieving  some  noble  object  in  life,  the  world  would  do  it 
even  greater  homage  than  is,  sometimes,  now  bestowed.  Men 
still  admire  the  true  poet,  the  true  philosopher,  or  anything 


Professor  M.  Schele  De  Vere,  J.U.D.,  at  fifty-six 
1820-1898 

See  page  389 


FACING    326 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  327 

else  that  is  true ;  it  is  only  on  the  false  or  pretended  that  they 
would  fain  pour  contempt. 

As  soon  as  Mr.  Emerson  had  enunciated  his  final  word,  the 
audience  was  transferred  from  dreamland  to  a  vital  present  by 
strains  of  stirring  music,  by  the  bright,  witty  speech  of  Profes- 
sor Schele  De  Vere  in  presenting  the  Magazine  medal  to  Mr. 
Leo  N.  Levi,  Texas,  and,  last,  but  no  means  least,  by  the  bril- 
liant oratorical  reply  of  that  young  gentleman.  For  between 
this  and  the  stoic  platitudes  of  Mr.  Emerson  there  was  great 
contrast — Mr.  Levi  being  the  acme  of  inspiration  and  enthu- 
siasm, giving  tone  to  every  sluggish  nerve  by  his  beautifully 
modulated  sentences  and  deep  sonorous  voice,  so  that  none 
could  escape  his  animated  and  magnetic  influence,  even  the 
Sage  of  Concord — who  must  have  enjoyed  ample  verification 
of  what  he  proclaimed  years  before :  Among  so  many  students 
there  are  at  least  four  or  five  worth  educating.  But  alas  that 
bright  Commencement  star  is  no  longer  with  the  living — he 
survived  only  a  short  generation,  sufficient,  however,  for  gath- 
ering greater  distinctions  unto  himself  and  his  cherished 
University. 

Thursday  morning — Commencement  or  Final  Day.  At  10 
o'ck,  the  entire  University  contingent,  including  many 
strangers,  assembled  in  the  Public  Hall  to  witness  the  usual 
conferring  of  diplomas  and  certificates  of  proficiency,  which 
lasted  about  two  hours.  At  the  conclusion  of  this  exercise 
Dr.  Harrison,  who  had  handed  each  of  us  our  well-earned 
sheepskins,  delivered  a  short  address  filled  with  good  advice 
and  wishes,  and  had  scarcely  finished  when  the  name  of  Gil- 
dersleeve  rang  loudly  throughout  the  Hall.  This  brought  the 
distinguished  scholar  to  the  front  of  the  stage  to  say  farewell 
— an  act  performed  so  pathetically  in  manner,  expression  and 
emotion  as  to  bring  many  tears  to  manly  eyes. 

After  a  recess  of  an  hour  we  all  reassembled  at  i  o'ck,  to 
hear  the  very  able  Alumni  address,  by  Colonel  F.  W.  M.  Hol- 
liday,  Va.,  who  spoke  entertainingly  on,  "  Higher  Education 
the  Hope  of  American  Republicanism."  Professor  William 
B.  Rogers  had  been  selected  months  before  the  Alumni  speaker, 
with  Colonel  Holliday  as  alternate,  but  owing  to  continued 
indisposition,  long  distance  and  anticipated  heat,  Professor 
Rogers  concluded  the  task  hazardous  to  attempt,  consequently 


328  UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA 

the  honor  fell  upon  Colonel  Holliday,  who  in  appearance  was 
rather  large  and  commanding,  with  strong  voice  and  fine  de- 
livery, showing,  however,  the  ravages  of  war,  as  he  carried 
an  empty  sleeve — the  arm  having  been  lost  at  Cedar  Run,  in 
1862.  At  night  the  Final  Ball  was  held  in  the  Library,  where 
many  light-footed  beaux  and  belles — including  the  Misses 
Anderson,  Antrim,  Blackford,  Clark,  Farish,  Garth,  Lathrop, 
Massie,  Maury,  Jordan,  Peyton,  Pleasants,  Randolph,  Shackel- 
ford,  Southall,  Walker,  and  scores  of  others — enjoyed  the 
giddy  maze  until  near  the  "  break  of  day." 


CHAPTER   XVII 
INCIDENTS  AND  PLEASURES  OF  SESSION  1876-77 

Session  1876-77;  Professor  Gildersleeve  missed.  Sons  of  Confucius.  Til- 
den  and  Hayes  campaign — dangers  experienced.  Dr.  Dame's  sermon. 
Students'  Minstrel  Troup.  Christmas.  Dr.  Witherspoon's  sermon. 
Literary  Societies.  Boat  Club.  Trip  to  Staunton.  Baseball  with 
Washington  and  Lee.  Lexington  as  a  seat  of  learning — visit  thereto; 
her  noted  personages,  living  and  dead.  Observance  in  Baltimore  of 
Gen.  Lee's  death  and  burial — our  regrets  that  he  and  Jackson  had 
not  been  connected  with  the  University;  Jackson's  ambition  to  succeed 
Professor  Courtenay  in  mathematics,  etc. 

As  predicted,  many  of  us  students  and  clubmates  met  dur- 
ing vacation  in  Philadelphia  (Centennial),  where  hours  were 
spent  together  pleasantly  in  seeking  new  and  rehashing  old 
experiences.  Personally  I  was  there  at  four  different  periods, 
consequently  had  abundant  time  for  other  than  mere  sight- 
seeing. During  the  first — middle  of  July — my  Fraternity's 
Annual  Convention  convened,  under  the  courtesy  of  the  chap- 
ter at  the  University  of  Pennsylvania,  at  the  Amateur  Drawing 
Rooms,  where  for  a  week  much  deliberation  and  good  fellow- 
ship prevailed,  as  under  that  roof  assembled  members  from 
every  section  of  our  country,  to  establish  a  closer  intimacy, 
especially  with  those  residing  in  and  around  that  great  city  of 
brotherly  love. 

Two  of  my  young  Delaware  friends  decided  to  enter  the 
University  that  fall — Cooper  and  Williams — and  for  the  lat- 
ter, according  to  request,  he  being  very  quiet  and  companion- 
able, I  secured  the  room  adjoining  mine — that  formerly  occu- 
pied by  Davis.  His  father  was  then  a  member  of  Congress 
— the  only  one  from  Delaware,  but  her  full  quota — and  as 
they  were  in  Washington  the  last  of  September  the  son  joined 
me  at  the  Pennsylvania  depot  on  the  29th,  so  that  he  might 
not  be  alone  on  his  maiden  trip  to  Charlottesville. 

Home-letter,  Sunday  night,  October  8th.  "  Everything  is  passing 
along  pleasantly  here.  Nothing  new  beyond  what  occurs  at  the  beginning 
of  every  session.  That  which  makes  the  strongest  impression  upon  us 

329 


330  UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA 

older  students  is  the  great  number  of  new  faces,  as  these  predominate 
largely,  or  at  least  seem  to.  ...  Harding,  much  to  my  surprise  and 
delight,  is  with  us  again — now  taking  law;  a  postal  from  Davis  yesterday 
noted  his  arrival  in  Poughkeepsie,  N.  Y.,  to  attend  Eastman's  Business 
College,  and  a  letter  from  Wilson  expressed  regret  at  not  being  back 
with  us.  I  greatly  miss  both  of  these  chums,  for  they  are  such  fine 
fellows,  whose  like  you  seldom  see,  and  whose  friendship  it  will  be  im- 
possible to  replace.  ...  I  have  spent  much  of  the  week  in  getting 
my  room  fixed  up  and  my  course  in  command.  Attended  the  Presby- 
terian Church  down  town  this  morning,  and  enjoyed  the  sermon  very 
much,  by  Rev.  Dr.  Petrie.  He  is  not  a  very  large  and  commanding 
man,  but  a  thoughtful  and  impressive  speaker.  .  .  .  This  afternoon 
three  of  us  walked  over  to  Colonel  Duke's — Sunnyside — something  over 
a  mile,  where  we  spent  a  delightful  hour.  The  daughter,  Miss  Mamie, 
is  a  bright,  animated  girl,  still  in  her  teens — the  idol  of  the  home — 
possessing  a  charm  and  affability  of  the  true  Southern  type,  and  a  dignity 
beyond  her  years,"  etc. 

Sunday  afternoon,  October  22nd.  "  It  is  just  5  o'ck,  and  must 
now  have  my  usual  weekly  chat  with  you.  .  .  .  Have  been  reading 
since  dinner  the  '  University  Memorial,'  a  volume  pertaining  to  those 
former  students  who  lost  their  lives  in  the  Civil  War.  I  took  it  out  of 
the  library  quite  a  week  ago  but  this  has  been  my  first  chance  for  perusal. 
That  so  many  bright  and  useful  young  men  should  have  been  sacrificed 
for  the  sins  of  our  fathers — that  is  about  what  it  amounts  to — seems 
truly  sad.  Just  to  think  beyond  the  suffering  endured  at  home  and  in 
the  field,  the  sorrowed  and  maimed  for  life  and  the  monetary  consideration, 
what  the  freeing  from  bondage  of  five  million  ignorant  inappreciative 
beings  has  cost  this  beloved  land  of  ours — the  lives  of  one-fourth  that 
number  of  higher  beings  in  whose  veins  true  Caucasian  blood  flowed.  Our 
people  were  wild  in  permitting  themselves  to  follow  such  a  cause.  A 
gradual  setting  free — evolution  and  not  revolution — would  have  accom- 
plished the  purpose  so  much  better.  It  is  true  a  longer  time  would  have 
been  required,  but  then  slavery  might  have  been  settled  right,  that  which 
is  not  now  the  case — for  nothing  is  settled  until  settled  right.  .  .  . 
I  attended  service  at  the  Episcopal  Church  down  town  this  morn- 
ing and  heard  a  right  good  sermon,  but  frightfully  long.  To-night  I 
propose  going  to  the  chapel.  Williams  and  Cooper  walked  over  to  Monti- 
cello,  leaving  shortly  after  9  o'ck.  A.  M.,  and  returning  at  2 — just  in  time  for 
dinner.  Both  were  tired  out  but  considered  themselves  amply  repaid  for 
the  trip.  I  do  not  believe  I  will  ever  go  there  again,  as  I  have  been  so 
often  only  to  see  invariably  the  same  old  landmarks — evidences  of  former 
grandeur,  realization  of  hopeless  decay.  .  .  .  The  weather  has  been 
perfectly  delightful  so  far  this  session,  making  every  one  inclined  towards 
taking  long  walks  into  the  country,  or  down  town.  I  sent  for  the'Gasette 
some  days  ago.  Williams  takes  the  Smyrna  Times  and  Cooper  the  Dela- 
•warean  and  Every  Evening  (Wilmington),  so  you  see  we  are  flooded 
with  Delaware  news  and  doings,"  etc. 

Sunday  afternoon,  October  2Qth.  "  Yours  received  Friday.  Glad  that 
father  got  off  to  the  Centennial,  as  I  am  confident  he  will  see  much  to 
please  and  cause  him  to  pronounce  it  a  big  show.  .  .  .  Some  of  the 
wheat  around  here  looks  well,  while  other  fresh  fields  have  just  been 
seeded,  presenting  a  grateful  contrast  between  red  and  green.  .  .  .  Am 
getting  along  very  well  with  my  studies,  but  spend  most  of  my  time  in 


UNIVERSITY    OF   VIRGINIA  331 

the  laboratory — blowing  glass,  making  thermometers,  barometers,  etc., 
where  often  I  find  fingers  apparently  thumbs.  Have  attended  a  few  politi- 
cal meetings  in  Charlottesville.  The  Tilden  Club  meets  on  Friday  nights, 
when  the  brass-band  makes  deafening  music  and  the  politicians  ranting 
speeches.  Cooper  is  daft  on  politics — by  the  way,  is  a  very  good  extempore 
stump  speaker — and  his  enthusiasm  often  stimulates  Williams  and  I  to 
follow  him.  .  .  .  Williams  is  now  in  my  room  debating  whether  or 
not  he  will  write  to  his  sister,"  etc. 

From  the  beginning  of  the  session  one  familiar  personage 
was  missed  greatly — Professor  Gildersleeve — whose  presence, 
somehow  or  another,  we  innately  fancied  necessary  for  the 
completeness  of  the  University  circle.  His  pavilion  was  now 
occupied  by  Dr.  Page  and  his  chair  by  Professor  Price,  so 
nothing  remained  to  disclose  the  personality  except  a  beauti- 
ful memory  of  his  worth  and  work — that  which  he  left  behind 
in  the  fullest  abundance.  His  successor — much  the  smaller 
physically — came  to  us  with  a  highly  creditable  reputation  for 
erudition  and  scholarship,  that  which  he  notably  evidenced  in 
his  inaugural  address  to  the  full  satisfaction  of  the  many 
present. 

In  the  early  days  there  was  one  initiation  into  the  "  Sons 
of  Confucius,"  Charles  Steele  acting  as  the  "  Great  Re- 
corder." The  ceremony  took  place  on  the  plot  of  ground  be- 
tween the  wood  and  road  beyond  the  baseball  grounds,  this 
side  of  the  cemetery,  and  was  attended  by  some  in  oriental 
costumes,  and  many  bearing  fire-brands,  tin-pans,  horns,  bells, 
etc.,  all  manipulated  energetically  so  as  to  produce  a  grand 
pandemonium.  This  was  the  only  installation  into  the  Order 
I  ever  witnessed,  for  which  I  am  thankful,  as  it  was  a  grave 
piece  of  misconceived  fun  since  it  misplaced  the  innocent  dupe 
before  his  college-mates,  giving  him  a  prominence — stigma — 
which  he  never  could  evade  or  unload,  be  his  after  career  ever 
so  creditable  and  enviable. 

The  interest  and  enthusiasm  that  pervaded  our  country  over 
the  Tilden  and  Hayes  campaign  found  a  hearty  response  among 
us  students,  as  nearly  every  one  was  in  full  expectation  that 
their  standard  bearers — Tilden,  Hendricks  and  Reform — 
would  come  out  winners.  From  the  beginning  of  the  session 
to  election  day,  Nov.  7th,  much  discussion  of  possibilties  was 
indulged  and  great  eagerness  was  shown  in  the  political  meet- 
ings of  Charlottesville  and  elsewhere.  While  our  studies 
were  not  neglected  seriously,  we  kept  in  the  knowledge  of  our 


332  UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA 

party  literature,  ever  mindful  of  the  pending  upheaval  through 
which  we  were  passing.  We  recognized  that  the  colored  ele- 
ment, including  our  waiters,  with  an  occasional  exception  like 
Tom  Barbour,  was  dead  opposed  to  our  hopes  and  way  of 
thinking.  But  in  spite  of  this  and  their  great  numbers  we  at 
all  times  expressed  ourselves  boldly  and  defiantly,  as  though 
they  did  not  exist  among  us — a  fact  that  tended  to  inspire  and 
perpetuate  anything  other  than  a  kindly  feeling  towards  us. 
Nor  did  this  antagonism  pass  with  the  election  day,  as  at 
once  thereafter  the  validity  of  the  vote  of  Louisiana,  South 
Carolina  and  Florida  was  challenged,  and  several  weeks 
elapsed  before  the  contest  was  narrowed  down  to  a  possible 
electoral  vote  of  185  for  Mr.  Hayes  and  184  for  Mr.  Tilden, 
which  in  turn  was  followed  by  the  appointment  of  an  "  Elec- 
toral Commission "  that  did  not  pass  final  judgment  until 
March  2,  1877.  During  the  first  fortnight  of  this  period  of 
uncertainty  there  was  much  unrest  in  the  University  territory 
between  the  two  races.  We  students  would  go  down  town 
every  night  to  visit  the  telegraph  and  newspaper  offices,  in 
search  of  the  latest  and  most  reliable  news,  and  in  open  speeches 
proclaim  to  our  willing  hearers  the  special  reports  that  had 
come  direct  to  each  of  us  from  our  respective  States.  It  was 
in  one  of  these  extemporaneous  efforts  that  my  friend  and 
fellow  State-man,  Cooper,  who,  always  lisping  a  little,  inno- 
cently filled  us  with  laughter  when,  in  defence  of  Delaware's 
attitude  towards  the  South  during  the  Civil  War,  he  gave  ex- 
pression to  that  afterwards  much  quoted  sentence  of  allitera- 
tion, from  its  numerous  words  beginning  with  the  letter  "  s  " 
— Who  did  not  send  a  .single  soldier  to  subjugate  her  Southern 
sister  States. 

Our  coming  and  going  was  always  in  crowds,  most  of  us 
being  armed  with  a  reliable,  sure-triggered  pistol.  These 
precautions  were  considered  necessary  for  our  own  protection, 
as  the  negroes  were  much  more  insolent  than  usual,  and  lay 
in  ambush  with  deadly  weapons  to  resent  anything  from  us 
they  might  regard  as  insult  to  their  people  or  political  creed. 
More  than  once  I  have  seen  in  the  dim-lit  hovels,  slightly  re- 
mote from  the  roadside,  colored  men  prostrate  upon  their 
stomachs  on  a  bed  or  couch  pulled  near  the  window  raised 
sufficient  to  admit  the  passing  of  their  guns,  ready  to  be  dis- 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  333 

charged,  simply  awaiting  the  least  provocation  in  the  form 
of  some  slight  demonstration  from  us  of  the  cause  we  espoused, 
as  hurrahing  for  Tilden,  Hendricks  and  Reform.  I  shall 
never  forget  two  or  three  nights  when  we  students  had  to 
call  out  the  "  Monticello  Guards  "  to  escort  us  back  to  the 
University,  as  upon  reaching  the  triangle  at  the  brow  of  Vine- 
gar Hill  we  found  awaiting  us  hundreds  of  negroes  armed  with 
various  kinds  of  deadly  weapons,  including  good-sized  pieces 
of  macadam-rock,  of  which  loads  had  been  dropped  on  the 
south  side  of  the  road  for  repairing  purposes,  and  over  which 
they  stood  high  guard.  On  one  of  these  nights,  just  as  we 
were  opposite  this  great  crowd,  firing  began,  and,  being  on 
the  inside,  I  leaped  over  the  seven-foot  closely  boarded  fence, 
only  to  grope  my  way  through  back  yards  and  by-streets 
to  the  Parish  Hotel,  where  I  spent  the  night  out  of  harm's 
way.  On  the  moment  I  considered  "  discretion  the  better 
part  of  valor,"  and,  rather  than  continue  to  face  a  wild,  ex- 
cited negro  mob,  with  no  value  of  their  own  or  others'  lives, 
preferred  to  seek  safety  where  I  "  might  live  to  fight  another 
day." 

On  Sunday  night,  Nov.  I9th,  Rev.  William  M.  Dame,  of 
Alexandria,  delivered  the  first  sermon  of  the  session  before 
the  Y.  M.  C.  A.,  having  as  a  text,  "  For  even  hereunto  were 
ye  called:  because  Christ  also  suffered  for  us,  leaving  us  an 
example,  that  ye  should  follow  his  steps."  He  was  a  very  ac- 
ceptable speaker,  said  to  resemble  Gen.  Lee,  and  the  large 
audience  highly  appreciated  his  management  of  the  theme. 

Home-letter,  Sunday  night,  Dec.  3rd.  "The  weather  here  for  the 
past  few  days  has  been  severe,  more  so,  I  believe  than  in  my  memory. 
.  .  .  The  University  expects  to  begin  in  the  morning  to  cut  ice  from 
the  pond,  so  that  will  for  the  time  being  put  an  end  to  our  skating 
there,  but  we  can  go  even  to  a  better  pond,  Cochran's,  a  mile  beyond 
(northeast)  Charlottesville,  which  the  young  people  of  the  town  use  and 
delight  in  having  us  join  them.  This  is  the  spot  where  last  summer  I 
witnessed  the  baptism  of  so  many  colored  people.  .  .  .  After  giving 
the  subject  considerable  thought  I  believe  it  would  be  best  for  me  to 
remain  here  during  Christmas.  The  trip  home  is  not  only  expensive 
but  means  not  a  little  loss  from  the  laboratory.  Several  fellows  are 
anxious  for  me  to  go  with  them  to  Richmond  at  that  time,  but  that  is 
attended  with  the  same  drawbacks.  ...  I  wish  you  would  send  me 
my  Ganot's  Physics,  Silliman's  Principles  of  Physics,  and  Deschanel's  two 
volumes — one  on  heat,  the  other  on  electricity  and  magnetism — as  I  need 
them  for  reference.  Williams  received  a  letter  from  his  father  yesterday 
stating  he  would  be  down  this  coming  week,  when  they  could  decide  about 


334  UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA 

going  home  at  Christmas.     He  also  said  that  Miss  Rosa  Saulsbury  was 
not  expected  to  live,"  etc. 

Sunday  morning,  Dec.  i;th.  "  Williams  and  I  have  just  returned  from 
a  nice  long  walk,  which  we  thoroughly  enjoyed  from  the  crispness.  He 
has  concluded  to  go  home  for  the  holidays,  and  will  leave  here  next 
Friday.  Cooper  will  remain  with  us,  having  no  special  reasons  for  leaving 
his  duties.  He  is  a  good  fellow,  and  I  like  him,  but  apparently  he  has 
little  attachment  for  his  home  or  parents,  only  writing  to  them  every  four 
or  six  weeks.  .  .  .  We  have  a  Minstrel  Troupe  composed  of  students 
that  gave  an  entertainment  Thursday  night  at  the  Town  Hall  for  the 
benefit  of  the  Charlottesville  poor.  They  cleared  over  three  hundred  dol- 
lars— a  very  good  sum  for  a  very  worthy  object.  Some  of  our  boys  make 
up  into  capital  negroes,  consequently  the  whole  affair  was  a  pronounced 
success.  .  .  .  The  University  ice  houses  have  all  been  filled,  but  in 
the  doing  one  colored  man,  of  heavy  weight,  fell  from  the  high  scaffold, 
breaking  both  legs  and  arms,  causing  one  or  two  amputations.  This  fur- 
nished some  practical  surgery  for  Dr.  Cabell  and  the  young  *  Meds/  in 
spite  of  which  their  patient  passed  away  on  Tuesday.  The  new  museum 
building  is  progressing  nicely,  and  when  finished  will  be  quite  an  addition 
to  the  University.  What  a  strange  idea  of  the  donor  to  conceal  his  name, 
for  sooner  or  later,  like  murder,  it  will  leak  out.  We  learn  very  little  of 
the  presidential  muddle,  but  believe  that  Mr.  Hayes  will  be  inaugurated 
President  in  conformity  with  the  bold  determinations  of  the  Republicans. 
Gen.  Wade  Hampton  was  inaugurated  Governor  of  South  Carolina  last 
week  and  from  the  papers  must  have  had  quite  an  ordeal  in  taking  the 
seat  to  which  he  had  legally  been  elected,"  etc. 

Sunday  morning,  Dec.  24th.  "This  is  another  Sabbath  and  with  it 
Christmas  Eve,  which  makes  the  University  atmosphere  seem  very  quiet, 
as  so  many  have  left  for  their  homes.  In  fact,  it  almost  impresses  one  as 
another  place,  proving  that  after  all  in  this  life,  it  is  friends  not  places 
that  contribute  our  pleasures.  .  .  .  The  trunk  came  safely  to  hand 
Thursday,  and  the  contents  brought  me  great  joy.  The  wrapper  is  per- 
fectly grand — so  warm  and  comfortable  in  weather  like  this.  I  have  not 
indulged  much  in  the  tempting  eatables,  but  the  sponge  cake  is  delicious, 
and  just  as  soon  as  all  my  friends  return  I  will  invite  them  around  for 
a  good  feast.  .  .  .  Williams  left  for  home  Friday  noon,  seeming  in 
great  glee  for  him.  I  went  down  town  last  night  with  clubmates  and 
others,  but  upon  finding  they  were  in  the  Christmas  spirit — bent  on  cele- 
brating it  in  good  old  royal  style,  as  they  called  it,  thoroughly  contrary 
to  my  liking — I  soon  returned  to  my  room  and  put  in  a  good  night's  rest, 
that  which  makes  me  feel  this  morning  far  better  than  they.  If  Tuesday 
is  pleasant  I  may  run  down  to  Richmond  and  return  with  my  friends 
the  last  of  the  week,"  etc. 

Sunday  morning,  Jan.  I4th,  1877.  "There  is  nothing  happening  in 
our  lives  worthy  of  special  note.  All  have  returned  from  their  holiday  and 
once  more  pursue  their  accustomed  duties  quietly  and  faithfully — as 
though  the  break  had  never  been.  Several  dances  this  week  have  given 
pleasure  to  many,  while  sleighing  has  been  indulged  in  freely  by  those 
with  a  fat  pocket-book — for  that  sport  here  is  an  expensive  luxury.  The 
turn-outs,  however,  offered  at  enormous  prices  are  far  from  attractive, 
as  neither  horses  or  sleighs  approximate  the  highest  order.  .  .  .  The 
papers  this  week  have  been  filled  with  the  Bennett-May  duel,  and  I  sup- 


Professor  Basil  L,.  Gildersleeve,  Uw.D.,  at  forty-five 
1831— 

See  page  397 


FACING  334 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  335 

pose  you  even  know  more  about  it  than  they  contain,  as  it  took  place 
so  near  home.  Our  students  have  taken  considerable  interest  in  the  affair 
owing  to  May  at  one  time  having  been  a  student  here,  while  I  have  gone 
so  far  as  to  write  up  his  University  career  for  the  Gazette — a  copy  of 
which  will  be  sent  you  in  the  near  future,"  etc. 

A 

Of  those  who  completed  their  University  course  the  pre- 
ceding June,  three  had  been  close  companions :  Davis  was  to 
engage  in  business — mercantile  and  banking — with  his 
father,  and  feeling  the  need  of  a  few  months'  contact  with  a 
business  college  had  sought  Eastman's  at  Poughkeepsie,  N.  Y. 
Wilson,  in  spite  of  holding  a  civil  engineering  degree,  had 
entered  upon  teaching,  with  the  intention  of  posting  up  along 
certain  desirable  lines,  while  Wright  had  gone  abroad  to  per- 
fect himself  in  modern  languages.  These  young  men  were 
sound  morally  and  mentally — delightful  associates  and  sincere 
friends — with  whom  a  correspondence  continued  throughout 
the  session,  indeed,  much  longer,  until  the  activities  of  our 
business  lives,  along  with  newly  established  relations,  precluded 
such  enjoyment.  To  show  the  kindly  spirit  existing  between 
us  extracts  may  be  taken  from  their  earlier  letters: 

POUGHKEEPSIE,  N.  Y.  Nov.   i7th,  1876. 
My  dear  Old  Friend: 

Yours  of  the  I2th,  to  hand,  and  although  overrun  with  duties  must 
hasten  an  acknowledgement  of  reciprocal  friendly  feeling.  So  much  would 
I  like  to  grasp  your  hand  again;  so  much  would  I  like  to  talk  to  and  be 
with  you  as  in  days  gone-by.  .  .  .  Success  to  you.  Stick  to  the  right 
and  to  principle  in  all  that  you  do.  Ask  the  blessing  of  Providence,  and 
doing  the  very  best  you  can,  rest  assured  of  success.  Above  all,  Dear 
Friend,  let  not  the  cares  of  this  world  and  the  pressure  of  worldly  duties 
keep  you  from  securing  an  interest  in  that  inheritance  prepared  for  the 
Children  of  Christ.  I  write  to  you  as  to  a  brother,  for  I  know  you  will 
listen  to  me  kindly.  Tell  dear  old  Harding  that  my  love  for  him  is 
sincere  and  warm.  Pleasant  was  our  association,  and  my  heart  yearns 
toward  him.  Oh,  that  I  could  sit  with  him,  as  we  once  did,  and  drink  in 
the  information  and  sweetness  with  which  his  conversation  was  replete. 
.  .  .  May  the  blessings  of  Heaven  be  upon  you.  Sincerely  and  affec- 
tionately, CHAS.  A.  DAVIS,  JR. 

RUSSELVILLE,  ALA.,  Jan.  8th,   1877. 
My  dear  Culbreth : 

I  have  to-day  been  looking  over  some  old  notes  in  my  chemistry 
notebook,  and  came  across  your  writing  and  name,  which  set  me  to 
thinking  about  you  and  wishing  to  see  you,  so  I  have  determined  to  do  the 
next  best  thing — write  and  inquire  how  everything  is  going  with  you? 
I  would  so  much  like  to  hear  about  some  of  our  mutual  friends — Davis, 
Harding,  John  Harris,  etc.  .  .  .  My  school  pays  me  about  one  hun- 


336  UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA 

dred  dollars  per  month  with  a  likelihood  of  more  next  year,  but  its  de- 
mands do  not  suit  me,  so  I  shall  get  into  something  nearer  my  direct 
line.  ...  I  expect  you  have  frequently  used  the  polariscope  or  sac- 
charimeter ;  if  so  kindly  give  me  some  hints  about  its  use,  especially  all 
you  know  in  determining  units  of  sugar  and  molasses.  Have  studied 
up  the  subject  and  think  I  understand  it,  but  nevertheless  would  like  to 
have  your  views,  as  you  might  have  something  new.  Also  tell  me  a  good 
book  giving  details  of  sugar  manufacture.  .  .  .  Would  like  to  meet 
you  in  St.  Louis  next  August.  You  might  go  there  and  after  joining  the 
Scientific  Association  return  home  free  of  any  railroad  expenses.  .  .  . 
Write  soon  to  your  true  friend.  M.  C.  WILSON. 

LUNEBURG,   PRUSSIA,   Jan.    i6th,    1877. 
My  dear  Culbreth: 

Your  much  welcomed  and  appreciated  letter  received  a  week  ago,  and 
you  cannot  imagine  how  much.  I  enjoyed  its  reading,  for  when  finished 
I  felt  as  though  it  had  been  a  delightfully  long  chat.  How  I  long  to  be 
with  you  all  and  especially  in  the  Chapter  Room.  I  am  so  glad  our 
Fraternity  is  in  such  a  flourishing  condition,  and  I  hope  it  will  never  have 
to  go  through  a  year  like  that  of  1875-76.  True  we  brought  her  out 
with  flying  colors,  but  you  know  the  trouble  we  had.  .  .  . '  My  German 
life  is  an  improvement  in  some  ways  over  that  at  the  University,  especially 
in  rooms  and  board.  Living  here,  however,  is  so  different  from  that  in 
the  States,  as  Irish  potatoes  and  pork  seem  the  prevailing  diet — that  which 
at  first  came  rather  rough.  But  having  become  accustomed  to  this,  now 
I  relish  a  dish  of  potatoes  no  less  than  a  German.  As  a  nation  I  don't 
consider  them  clean  or  wise  in  many  of  their  customs.  Thus  boys  and 
girls  are  strictly  kept  apart,  enjoying  little  in  common,  as  walking,  riding, 
talking,  etc.  When  engaged  it  is  published  and  then  you  may  go  with 
your  fiancee  unguarded — even  kiss  her  before  the  "  Old  Folks."  Engage- 
ments here  mean  marriage  and  they  are  seldom  broken.  I  told  Mrs. 
Lauenstein  that  her  niece  was  very  pretty  only  to  make  her  horrified,  thus 
one  must  be  guarded  even  in  paying  deserved  compliments.  .  .  . 
Luneburg  is  a  very  old  place  with  attractive  environs,  and  its  people, 
like  those  throughout  this  land,  have  no  respect  for  Sunday — stores  being 
open  and  business  never  ceasing.  They  consume  much  beer,  I  even  in- 
dulging an  occasional  glass,  but  the  working  classes  take  considerable 
rum.  Christmas,  which  I  am  glad  to  say  is  over,  has  a  greater  recognition 
than  with  us.  It  began  on  Christmas  Eve  with  every  household  illumin- 
ating their  Christmas  tree — that  which  all  have,  the  poor  as  well  as  the 
rich.  And  they  think  there  are  no  trees  outside  of  Germany — but  how 
mistaken,  as  even  ours  are  much  prettier.  Christmas  Day  was  jolly  cold 
— 20  degrees  below  zero,  Reaumur,  how  much  in  Fahrenheit  I  don't  know. 
Snow  lay  on  the  ground,  but  it  was  too  cold  for  sleighing.  I  had  three 
invitations  out,  and  managed  to  accept  two.  New  Year's  Night  I  at- 
tended a  supper  where  a  number  of  young  ladies  were  in  attendance 
with  whom  I  spoke  their  language  to  my  heart's  content.  I  missed  Mas- 
sie's  good  dinner — mine  being  the  same  as  every  day.  There  were  no 
fireworks,  and  although  I  enjoyed  my  German  Christmas  I  decidedly 
prefer  our  way  of  observing  it.  I  had  my  first  experience  at  a  German 
ball  several  nights  ago.  The  ladies  came  with  mamma,  papa  or  brother, 
and  we  gentlemen  with  beaver  in  hand  met  them  in  the  dancing  hall. 
This  beaver  must  be  kept  in  the  hand  until  beginning  to  dance — what  a 
foolish  custom.  We  started  with  a  polonaise — a  walk  round,  in  which  all, 
old  and  young  entered;  then  came  a  waltz,  at  the  rate  of  a  mile  a  min- 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  337 

ute,  and  after  going  around  the  room  once  I  had  to  stop  for  a  breathing 
spell.  I  was  so  tired  and  others  seemed  like  me.  There  were  only  two 
square  dances,  the  rest  round.  At  supper  I  played  escort  to  a  blushing 
girl — not  eighteen  but  twenty-eight,  after  which  repast  came  three  waltzes 
and  the  cotillon — our  German.  The  girls  cannot  compare  to  ours,  as  I 
did  not  see  one  that  I  called  pretty.  The  nobility  here  are  distinguished 
by  the  prefix  yon,  and  I  have  had  the  honor,  if  it  may  so  be  considered, 
of  dancing  and  talking  with  many  of  that  coterie.  I  am  afraid  you 
fellows  are  taking  too  much  calico,  but  hope  when  the  time  comes  for 
studying  you  will  give  the  former  a  rest.  ...  I  trust  the  performance 
of  your  minstrel  troup  was  good — tell  me  all  about  it  in  your  next.  I 
suppose  Fawsett  still  plays  funny  for  East  Range.  He  is  a  great  fellow. 
Give  abundant  love  to  all  our  companions — Harding,  Davis,  Campbell, 
Shawhan,  Barringer,  Shackelford,  Turner,  Marshall,  John  and  Tate  Har- 
ris. Hope  to  be  able  to  give  you  a  German  letter  next  time  I  write. 
Answer  soon,  telling  me  all  the  news. 

Your  sincere  friend  and  bro.  in  Tau  Kappa  Phi, 

C.  B.  WRIGHT. 

Home-letter,  Sunday  morning,  February  4th.  "To-day  is  beautiful 
as  has  been  the  past  week,  but  a  trifle  warm  for  the  season,  and  no  doubt 
will  set  farmers  to  thinking  about  spring  crops  and  work.  It  certainly 
has  made  studying  more  difficult,  as  we  incline  to  enjoy  the  open  sun- 
light strolls  and  the  beauties  of  nature.  I  trust  a  change  will  soon  come, 
when  we  can  get  back  to  accustomed  ways  and  make  up  for  lost  time. 
Examinations  are  approaching  and  I  certainly  must  pull  myself  together 
if  I  am  to  pass  them  with  credit — so  let  the  colder  weather  come  right 
along,"  etc. 

Sunday  morning,  February  i8th.  "  There  is  nothing  new  with  us 
consequently  little  to  write  about  of  special  interest.  Everything  moves 
along  smoothly  and  pleasantly,  so  we  all  seem  happy  and  contented. 
Quite  a  number  of  the  boys  have  already' begun  loafing,  which  they  will 
likely  continue  until  the  end  of  the  session.  .  .  .  Fruit  buds  are  now 
so  far  advanced  that  I  fear  a  cold  snap  would  be  serious,  hence  for  your 
sake  I  trust  the  pleasant  weather  of  the  past  few  weeks  will  continue. 
I  have  no  fire — there  being  abundant  heat  from  the  sun — and  we  sit  much 
of  the  time  with  open  doors  and  windows.  .  .  .  Williams  and  Cooper 
took  a  long  walk  this  morning  over  the  mountains — were  gone  four 
hours,  keeping  continuously  on  the  move — and  have  just  come  in  com- 
pletely fagged  out,"  etc. 

On  Sunday  night.  January  28th,  Rev.  T.  D.  Witherspoon 
delivered  in  the  Public  Hall  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  sermon  from  the 
text,  "  But  my  servant,  Caleb,  because  he  had  another  spirit 
with  him,  and  hath  followed  me  faithfully,  him  will  I  bring 
into  the  land  whereunto  he  went;  and  his  seed  shall  possess 
it/'  As  on  other  similar  occasions  our  former  chaplain  was 
received  with  a  hearty  welcome,  his  address  being  highly 
appreciated  for  its  words  of  wisdom  so  beautifully  expressed. 

The  early  spring-like  weather  stimulated  many  students  to 


338    '  UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA 

indulge  in  out-of-door  sports,  especially  baseball,  of  which 
during  February  and  March  there  was  much  promiscuous 
practicing.  In  the  latter  month  a  permanent  club  was  organ- 
ized and  thereafter  the  process  of  weeding  and  selecting  the 
best  began  to  take  definite  shape.  On  March  3ist,  we  met 
defeat  at  the  hands  of  the  Charlottesville  team — 9  to  6 — but 
this  served  well  to  show  our  weak  points  and  to  impress  the 
necessity  of  their  correction,  as  far  more  important  games 
were  scheduled  to  follow. 

Owing  to  so  many  diversions  and  influences  the  Literary 
Societies  this  session  seemed  to  suffer  somewhat  in  popularity 
and  attendance,  but  the  same  kind  of  work  continued  only  in 
less  degree.  After  the  usual  amount  of  campaigning  and  fev- 
erish excitement  the  Final  Presidents  were  elected:  Jeff., 
April  7th,  Mr.  Benj.  D.  Whiteley,  Md.  Wash.,  April  28th,  Mr. 
Frank  P.  Farish,  Va.  The  contestants  for  the  medal  and 
oratorical  houors  were :  Jeff. — Messrs.  C.  A.  Culberson,  C. 
Denny,  J.  G.  Garrison,  A.  G.  Stuart,  S.  B.  Woods;  Wash. — 
Messrs.  J.  F.  Ellison,  V.  M.  Potter,  Junius  Rochester,  W.  W. 
Walker.  The  "  Electoral  Committee  "  of  the  Faculty  after 
some  deliberation  made  the  awards  as  follows :  Jeff. — Medal- 
ist, Mr.  A.  G.  Stuart,  Va. ;  Orator,  Mr.  C.  A.  Culberson, 
Texas;  Wash.— Medalist,  Mr.  J.  F.  Ellison,  Va.;  Orator, 
Mr.  Junius  Rochester,  Ky. 

College  rowing  and  regattas  had  become  so  popular  and 
universal  abroad  and  at  home  that  our  students  often  la- 
mented the  apparent  absence  with  us  of  the  two  great  essen- 
tials— water  and  money — for  encouraging  the  sport.  How- 
ever, early  in  the  year  we  were  informed  that  at  a  meeting 
of  the  New  York  Alumni  Society  a  very  generous  minded 
alumnus,  Mr.  Francis  R.  Rives,  had  expressed  regret  over 
our  students  having  made  no  effort  in  this  direction  and  a 
willingness  to  give  material  assistance  should  they  ever  so 
determine.  This  thought  was  taken  up  seriously  by  us  stu- 
dents, and  on  March  2Oth,  a  committee  of  five — Messrs. 
Lamb,  L'Engle,  Macfarland,  Stuart,  Thorn — addressed  a  let- 
ter to  Mr.  Rives,  inquiring  if  he  felt  disposed  to  live  up  to 
his  reported  offer,  stating  at  the  same  time  that  upon  careful 
investigation  they  had  found  on  the  near-by  Rivanna  River 
sufficient  water  for  a  racing  course,  and  that  the  students 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  339 

were  eager  to  aid  liberally  in  establishing  a  rowing  club. 
Four  days  thereafter  Mr.  Rives  remitted  a  check  of  one  thou- 
sand dollars  in  a  letter  filled  with  kind  expressions  for  the 
proposed  undertaking  and  the  great  good  that  might  grow 
therefrom.  A  circular  letter  was  sent  shortly  afterwards  to 
all  Alumni,  stating  the  object  in  contemplation,  what  had  al- 
ready been  accomplished,  and  asking  for  their  financial  co- 
operation. On  April  I7th,  at  a  called  meeting  in  the  Jeff. 
Hall,  a  permanent  organization  of  the  "  Rives  Boat  Club  " 
was  effected  by  the  election  of  Mr.  A.  G.  Stuart,  President; 
Mr.  George  D.  Fawsett,  Vice-President ;  Mr.  J.  C.  Lamb, 
Secretary;  Mr.  W.  J.  L'Engle,  Treasurer.  At  the  same  time 
a  crew  of  four  was  selected — Messrs.  DeCoursey  W.  Thorn 
(Captain),  W.  J.  L'Engle,  J.  M.  Macfarland,  Charles  Steele 
— that  went  into  immediate  training,  and  shortly  thereafter  a 
suitable  boat-house  was  erected  on  the  river's  bank,  a  second 
handed  scull-racer  procured  and  a  new  four-oared  cedar  gig 
with  sliding  seats  ordered.  A  challenge  was  dispatched  to 
Washington  and  Lee  crews,  expressing  the  desire  that  the 
contest  take  place  on  neutral  waters— James  River  at  Lynch- 
burg — but  upon  this  invitation  being  declined  the  Tobacco 
City  Club  of  Lynchburg,  learning  of  our  new  adventure  and 
ambition  for  additional  honors  upon  an  hitherto  untried  sea, 
extended  a  similar  challenge  to  us — that  which  was  accepted 
for  June  3Oth. 

Home-letter,  Monday  morning,  May  7th.  "  I  was  compelled  to  de- 
lay my  yesterday's  letter  until  to-day  as  a  small  party  of  us  went  over 
to  Statmton  Friday  afternoon  and  did  not  return  until  late  last  night 
The  primary  incentive  for  the  trip  was  a  fine  musical  concert  that  night 
at  their  Town  Hall,  but  secondarily  we  thought  it  a  golden  opportunity 
to  see  collectively  the  many  proverbial  pretty  girls  attending  the  several 
seminaries — some  being  sisters  of  our  number  and  from  whom  we  had 
learned  that  a  general  outpouring  was  expected  at  the  musical.  This  latter 
was  certainly  a  great  success  and  at  its  close  brothers  and  sisters,  with 
the  consent  of  chaperons,  interchanged  slight  conversational  civilities  suffi- 
cient to  institute  a  scheming  for  a  general  meeting  on  the  morrow.  In 
spite  of  the  incessant  down-pour  of  this  next  day  we  kept  busy  at  sight- 
seeing and  in  planning  to  meet  the  girls  in  the  evening.  Both  Mr. 
Phillips  of  the  Virginia  Female  Institute  (Episcopal)  and  Miss  Mary 
Baldwin  of  the  Augusta  Female  Seminary  (Presbyterian)  are  very  strict 
with  their  charges,  allowing  only  brothers  or  some  one  having  a  letter 
from  the  young  ladies'  parents  to  make  calls.  One  of  our  party  was  from 
California  and  fancied  a  surprise  visit  would  be  appreciated  by  a  lady 
student  from  his  State  at  Miss  Baldwin's,  but  when  he  called  in  regular 


340  UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA 

form  that  morning  was  denied  the  permission  of  an  interview.  Whether 
his  manner  was  awkward  or  suspicious  I  know  not,  but  the  fact  remained, 
that  the  refusal  grieved  him  much  and  stimulated  us  all  the  more  to 
perpetrate  the  following  practical  joke.  Knowing  other  University  stu- 
dents than  those  with  us  to  have  sisters  and  sweethearts  at  Miss  Baldwin's, 
whom  they  came  over  occasionally  to  see,  we  went  to  the  office  of  the 
Vindicator,  a  newspaper  there,  and  had  cards  printed  with  these  young 
gentlemen's  names,  so  that  we  might  impersonate  them  in  making  a 
call.  It  was  rather  a  daring  procedure,  and  turned  out  to  produce  untold 
apprehension,  confusion  and  merriment,  with  a  result  altogether  unsatis- 
factory. I  fancy  so  many  cards  staggered  Miss  Baldwin — although  pos- 
sibly she  had  received  a  cue — for  she,  after  some  deliberation,  sent  her 
maid  to  inform  us  that  only  certain  sisters  of  the  young  gentlemen — 
those  that  were  in  fact  sisters — would  be  allowed  in  the  parlor.  The 
reception  room  adjoining,  with  portieres  partly  drawn,  had  visitors  who 
left  early,  so  that  the  three  young  ladies,  the  home  contingent  of  that 
party,  came  quietly  and  joined  us,  adding  universal  delight.  Everything 
was  moving  to  entire  satisfaction  until  10  o'ck.,  when  suddenly  we  were 
left  in  complete  darkness,  the  gas  being  turned  off  from  that  portion  of  the 
building.  Fortunately  we  had  abundant  matches  by  which  the  ladies 
managed  to  find  the  stairs  and  we  the  front  door.  Evidently  some  one 
had  lost  sight  of  callers  being  in  the  parlor  that  disagreeable  night  and 
began  the  closing  process  according  to  usual  custom.  The  visit  was  filled 
with  incidents  that  can  never  be  forgotten."  .  .  . 

Near  the  close  of  session  1871-72,  immediately  preceding 
my  entrance  to  the  University,  two  match  games  of  baseball, 
of  more  than  passing  interest,  were  played  between  Washing- 
ton and  Lee  and  our  own  nines.  That  of  May  8th,  took 
place  on  the  Military  Institute  grounds,  Lexington,  being 
won  by  our  boys  in  the  tenth  inning,  while  that  of  six  weeks 
later,  June  2Oth,  was  played  on  our  grounds,  out  towards  the 
Cemetery,  and  resulted  in  defeat.  A  year  later,  spring  of  1873, 
these  games  were  held  in  vivid  memory,  and  gracefully  ac- 
cepted to  teach  a  wholesome  lesson — that  our  nine  must  be  of 
worthy  material  if  to  serve  the  good  reputation  of  ourselves 
and  the  University.  As  my  room  then  was  on  Dawson's  Row, 
not  far  from  the  grounds,  I  remember  distinctly  that  consid- 
erable practicing  went  on  during  all  the  pleasant  weather  of 
the  early  months,  myself  often  participating,  and  that  later 
several  contests  took  place  with  minor  teams.  But  as  a  matter 
of  fact  we  believed  ourselves  at  no  time  sufficiently  trained  to 
cope  successfully  with  such  a  nine  as  we  fancied  Washington 
and  Lee  possessed,  so  it  was  regarded  as  puerile  to  think  of 
giving  or  accepting  challenges  in  that  direction.  Indeed,  for 
several  years  right  here  an  innocuous  desuetude  seemed  to 
take  hold  of  our  athletic  contingent,  militating  against  the 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  341 

doing  of  very  much  meriting  comment — the  only  event  being 
that  of  May  I4th,  1875,  when  the  Washington  and  Lee  boys 
came  over  to  be  defeated  by  a  score  of  27  to  21. 

Mindful  of  these  results,  and  regarding  themselves  in  the 
spring  of  1877  possibly  a  whit  stronger  than  before,  the  Wash- 
ington and  Lee  nine  issued  another  challenge  to  our  club, 
including  its  usual  contingent  of  supporters  and  rooters — the 
game  to  be  played  at  Lexington.  This  being  my  last  year  at 
the  University,  and  knowing  well  the  personnel  of  the  team, 
accounted  for  me  making  a  bold  effort  to  realize  the  hopes  of 
years — a  visit  to  that  historic  spot.  I  feel  sure  that  no  student 
ever  entered  the  University  without  considerable  knowledge 
of  at  least  three  towns  bearing  that  name — those  of  Massa- 
chusetts, Kentucky  and  Virginia. 

My  first  geography,  as  with  many  others,  pictured  and 
described  the  Natural  Bridge  as  one  of  the  greatest  curiosities 
of  nature  in  the  world,  giving  as  it  did  the  name  of  the  county 
of  Virginia  in  which  it  was  located — Rockbridge — whose  chief 
town,  Lexington,  named  after  the  one  in  Massachusetts,  was 
the  seat  of  the  county  as  well  as  of  Washington  College  and 
the  Virginia  Military  Institute.  To  the  preface  of  my  physi- 
cal geography  was  signed  not  only  M.  F.  Maury,  but  also 
Lexington,  Virginia,  in  consequence  of  which  the  names  be- 
came indelibly  impressed  at  an  early  age.  At  the  approaching 
time  to  enter  college  every  thoughtful  youth  in  those  days 
secured  various  catalogues,  by  whose  comparison  he  hoped  to 
form  a  preference,  if  that  had  not  already  been  determined 
by  some  other  cause  or  circumstance.  Unfortunately  the 
North  and  South  still  were  divided  widely  in  sentiment,  and 
young  men  sought  their  educational  training  according  to 
environment  and  feelings,  so  that  the  southern  inclined  stu- 
dents became  more  or  less  acquainted  on  paper  with  the  work- 
ings of  the  Lexington  institutions.  Personally  I  had  a  trite 
family  episode  and  youthful  experience  that  fixed  Lexington 
strongly  in  my  mind.  An  only  remaining  single  aunt,  Frances 
(Fanny)  Reynolds,  was  married  Oct.  4,  1870,  to  Mr.  William 
L.  Clough,  a  gentleman  then  about  forty,  who  had  seen  three 
years  of  active  Confederate  service.  During  those  days  in 
Delaware  all  wedding  trips  were  directed  northward — no  one 
considering  the  South  a  desirable  territory  for  a  pleasurable 


342  UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA 

honeymoon — but  this  wise  couple  planned  from  the  first  to  be 
exceptional,  to  do  not  as  others — by  spending  three  weeks  in 
southern  travel.  My  uncle  Luther  (her  eldest  brother)  and 
wife  came  from  Baltimore  to  attend  the  wedding  festivities 
and  remained  thereafter  a  few  days  to  visit,  according  to  cus- 
tom, other  brothers,  sisters  and  friends,  and  when  ready  to 
turn  homeward  I,  much  to  my  delight,  was  invited  to  share  the 
vacant  carriage  seat — that  to  which  my  parents  readily  con- 
sented, thinking  the  absence  of  two  weeks  from  school  not 
serious,  as  upon  my  return  an  industrious  effort  would  make 
the  necessary  amends. 

We  left  my  parents'  farm,  Robinson's  Plantation,  early 
Sunday  morning,  Oct.  9th, — a  day  bright  and  beautiful  with 
roads  in  prime  condition  and  horses  seemingly  inspired  to  cover 
quickly  the  forty  miles  separating  our  destination,  Oxford, 
Maryland,  near  where  on  a  fertile  farm  resided  another  uncle, 
Thomas  G.  Reynolds,  with  whom  we  were  to  spend  the  night, 
and  where,  as  planned,  we  arrived  at  3  o'ck,  that  afternoon. 
Next  day  about  noon  we  boarded  the  steamer  Kent,  team  and 
all,  for  Baltimore,  reaching  there  shortly  after  dark. 

The  newspapers  day  by  day  gave  accounts  of  Gen.  Lee's 
indisposition,  while  those  of  Thursday,  I3th,  were  in  mourning 
lines  and  contained  little  else  than  that  pertaining  to  the  great 
Commander,  whose  character,  deeds,  motives,  ambitions,  dis- 
appointments, religious  tendencies,  manly  probity  and  exam- 
ple they  not  only  discussed  and  commended,  but  caused  them  to 
be  by  all  the  leading  subjects  of  conversation.  In  fact  the  Civil 
War  period  and  its  experiences  had  a  revivification,  being  made 
to  exist  as  in  the  yesterday ;  buildings,  large  and  small,  through- 
out the  city  were  draped  profusely  in  black,  entwining  fre- 
quently in  modest  relief  the  Union  and  Confederate  emblems — 
indeed  making  Baltimore  Street  appear  almost  its  entire  length 
a  veritable  palled  avenue;  business  seemingly  took  a  partial 
rest,  and  people  went  their  accustomed  ways  not  with  usual 
energy  and  rush  but  in  a  spirit  of  sober  meditation  and  humil- 
ity. On  Saturday  all  activity  ceased,  causing  one  to  imagine 
the  funeral  taking  place  in  our  midst,  and  I  was  so  im- 
pressed with  passing  events  as  to  retain  the  papers  of  that 
week,  which  to  this  day  are  well  preserved.  None  was  issued 
then  on  Sunday,  so  a  short  extract  from  Monday's  Gazette 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  343 

(i7th.),  the  first  following  the  burial  at  Lexington,  may  serve 
to  convey  the  expressed  sentiment  of  the  place  and  time: 
"  Never  in  the  history  of  Baltimore  has  there  been  an  exhibition 
of  more  earnest  grief  than  has  been  inspired  by  the  death  of 
General  Robert  Edmond  Lee.  As  soon  on  Saturday  morning 
— the  day  of  his  funeral  at  Lexington — as  the  action  of  the 
two  Branches  of  the  City  Council  was  known,  the  flags  on 
the  public  buildings  and  shipping  were  hoisted  at  half-mast, 
and,  before  noon,  many  of  the  principal  houses  on  Baltimore, 
Charles,  Hanover  and  other  streets  were  appropriately  draped 
in  mourning,  evincing  the  sorrow  and  grief  which  the  death 
of  that  noble  patriot  and  Christian  gentleman  had  spread 
throughout  the  length  and  breadth  of  the  city.  Those  who 
shared  with  him  the  perils  and  privations  of  war  walked  the 
streets  with  heads  bowed  down  and  countenances  saddened 
by  the  loss  of  one  who  had  so  often  led  them  to  victory  and 
had  spoken  to  them  words  of  consolation  after  they  had  fallen. 
At  noon  the  bells  of  the  city  tolled  solemnly,  indicating  that 
the  mortal  remains  of  General  Lee  were  about  to  be  consigned 
to  mother  earth.  Throughout  the  entire  day  there  was  a  gloom 
over  the  faces  of  men,  and  strong  men  wept  that  one  so  great 
and  good  has  been  called  from  earth,  where  his  noble  character 
and  exalted  virtues  made  him  the  beloved  of  all." 

Memorial  meetings  were  held  in  every  southern  city  and 
town,  where  resolutions  of  respect  and  sorrow  were  adopted, 
and  appropriate  eulogies  pronounced  by  judges,  jurists,  gen- 
erals, and  others  who  knew  and  loved  the  illustrious  dead, 
while  to  Lexington  hundreds  journeyed  to  take  part  in  the 
funeral  obsequies — Richmond  appealing  in  vain  for  his  body 
to  rest  finally  in  her  favorite  Hollywood. 

Enough  when  it  is  said  that  each  and  every  phase  of  honor 
paid  the  great  man  had  a  full  corresponding  space  in  the 
papers,  which  from  careful  reading  inclined  my  mind  to  asso- 
ciate with  General  Lee  a  certain  divinity  and  infallibility,  and 
to  his  resting  place,  Lexington,  an  unusual  degree  of  interest 
and  respect.  In  entering  the  University  two  years  later  it 
was  not  likely  that  any  of  this  sentiment  had  abated,  but  on  the 
contrary  that  it  had  either  remained  constant  or  become 
strengthened.  One  thing  certain — I  had  not  been  at  the  Uni- 
versity many  months  before  recognizing  that  our  student-body 


344  UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA 

knew  of  and  appreciated  thoroughly  the  deserved  popularity  of 
Washington  and  Lee  University  and  the  Virginia  Military 
Institute — considering  them  ideally  located  at  Lexington,  in 
the  beautiful  "  Valley  of  Virginia,"  to  whose  fame  and  up- 
building they  had  been  prominent  factors.  I  also  observed  that 
from  both  of  those  institutions  students  every  year  came  to 
us,  if  not  for  higher,  at  least  for  specific  training,  and  while 
these  were  loyal  to  their  newer  seat  of  learning  they  possessed 
sufficient  manhood  to  not  forget  or  seriously  disparage  the 
older,  where  possibly  most  of  them  first  saw  the  true  light 
of  an  education — a  sentiment  that  went  far  towards  strength- 
ening an  already  good  reputation.  I  remember  one  or  two  in 
their  comparisons  inclined  to  make  our  University  suffer, 
with  what  justice  I  was  unable  to  determine  intelligently,  but 
there  was  never  any  contention  concerning  the  relative  merits 
or  standing  of  the  various  institutions  in  the  State.  All 
contributed  students  to  the  University,  and  as  the  converse 
was  not  true  we  somehow  intuitively  accepted  our  institution 
to  be  the  universally  recognized  head,  as  Mr.  Jefferson  de- 
signed, of  the  State's  educational  system,  and  like  of  old,  "  all 
roads  lead  to  Rome,"  so  all  schools  in  Virginia  were  more  or 
less  preparatory  to  her  University.  As  a  fact,  we  had  too  se- 
rious troubles  of  our  own  to  waste  time  and  thought  upon 
that  subject,  being  convinced  that  every  institution,  large  and 
small,  high  and  low,  played  equally  an  important  part  in  the 
great  system,  that  there  was  no  intentional  overlapping  or  ab- 
sorbing the  province  or  functions  of  one  another,  that  each 
endeavored  to  do  effective  work  in  preparing  men  for  the 
greater  walk  of  life,  and  that  whether  they  alone,  or  in  con- 
junction with  the  University,  produced  "  shining  lights,"  all 
were  willing  to  claim  with  pride  the  creditable  product  as  a 
common  inheritance.  We  had  the  impression  somehow  that 
after  West  Point  the  Virginia  Military  Institute — the  West 
Point  of  the  South — was  the  best  military  school  in  this  coun- 
try, and  that  in  Virginia  next  to  the  University  came  Wash- 
ington and  Lee,  and  here  the  matter  rested  defying  and  need- 
ing no  controversy. 

Many  facts  existed  about  Lexington  and  its  literati  of  which 
most  of  us  were  ignorant :  I  do  not  recall  a  familiarity  then 
with  its  somewhat  classic  nom  de  plume,  "  Athens  of  the  Old 


Professor  John  W.  Mallet,  LIv.D.,  F.R.S.,  at  forty-five 
1832— 

See  fage  404 

FACING    344 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  345 

Dominion,"  with  its  educational  jewels  and  economic  settings ; 
or  to  any  extent  with  the  forceful  and  significant  writings  in 
prose  and  verse  of  Margaret  J.  Preston,  the  estimable  wife  of 
the  distinguished  Military  Institute  professor,  John  T.  L.  Pres- 
ton, and  the  sister  of  the  first  Mrs.  "  Stonewall "  Jackson, 
both  ladies  being  daughters  of  Dr.  George  Junkin,  President 
of  Washington  College,  1846-1861,  the  immediate  predeces- 
sor of  General  Lee.  Nor  did  we  know  much  of  Gen.  Francis 
H.  Smith,  Superintendent  of  the  Military  Institute  since  1840, 
except  to  consider  him  a  great  man,  and  to  bear  the  same  name 
as  our  beloved  Professor  of  Natural  Philosophy,  the  middle 
letter,  however,  of  the  one  representing  Henney,  of  the  other 
Henry;  nor  of  General  R.  E.  Rhodes,  the  noted  professor  in 
the  Military  Institute  with  "  Stonewall  "  Jackson,  both  sacri- 
ficing lives  in  the  Confederate  service;  nor  of  Matthew  Fon- 
taine Maury,  save  through  his  geographies  which  were  then 
reaping  deserved  popularity  and  praise ;  nor  of  General  G.  W. 
Custis  Lee,  a  man  of  such  distinguished  parts  that  Mr.  Davis 
would  have  placed  him  in  command  of  the  Army  of  Northern 
Virginia  in  the  event  of  accident  to  its  great  commander — ex- 
cept that  he  was  President  of  Washington  and  Lee  University, 
the  successor  and  son  of  General  Robert  E.  Lee ;  nor  of  Rev. 
William  S.  White,  for  years  a  resident  of  Albemarle  County, 
where  he  contributed  successfully  to  the  proper  development 
of  youths  committed  to  his  charge,  ministered  with  self-sacri- 
ficing Christian  spirit,  as  did  the  "  Good  Shepherd  of  old,"  to 
the  betterment  of  his  country  mission,  acted  twice  as  chaplain 
to  our  University,  presided  over  the  Presbyterian  Church  in 
Charlottesville,  and  then,  shifting  his  field  of  labor  to  the 
Church  of  similar  faith  in  Lexington,  became  the  religious 
companion  and  adviser  of  "  Stonewall  "  Jackson,  preaching 
his  funeral,  performing  the  final  solemn  rights  at  the  Lexing- 
ton church  and  cemetery,  and  assisting  in  similar  services 
over  General  Lee  at  the  College  chapel;  nor  of  Rev.  William 
N.  Pendleton,  the  founder  of  the  Episcopal  High  School,  Alex- 
'andria,  since  1853  rector  of  Grace  Episcopal  Church,  Lexing- 
ton— where  General  Lee  held  membership  and  worshiped — 
during  the  Civil  War  a  Confederate  Brigadier-General,  and 
with  three  exceptions  in  every  battle  fought  by  the  Army  of 
Northern  Virginia  from  first  Manassas  to  Appomattox,  where 


346  UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA 

with  Generals  John  B.  Gordon  and  James  Longstreet  he  was 
appointed  to  negotiate  the  terms  of  surrender,  after  which  he 
returned  to  his  Lexington  Church,  became  the  social  and 
spiritual  companion  of  General  Lee  throughout  his  later  years, 
reading  at  his  funeral  the  Episcopal  service — the  only  sermon 
of  the  occasion — and  two  years  later  officiated  at  the  final  cere- 
mony of  Commodore  Maury;  nor  of  Professors  Nelson, 
Joynes,  Kirkpatrick,  Humphries,  White,  Johnston  and  Tucker, 
save  to  accept  them  as  standing  high  at  and  from  home — 
faithful  teachers  of  Washington  and  Lee.  Even  though  some 
of  these  and  other  detailed  facts  came  to  many  of  us  late  in  our 
University  career,  or  not  until  that  had  closed,  yet  none  while 
there,  and  that  from  the  very  beginning,  failed  to  realize  a  few 
manifestations  of  the  "  fortune  of  fate  "  against  our  Univer- 
sity. Of  this  from  our  selfish  standpoint  two  notable  examples 
created  in  our  disingenuous  youthful  minds  a  certain  degree 
of  covetousness,  pardonable  if  not  laudable,  against  the  Lex- 
ington institutions — the  one  for  her  Lee,  the  other  for  her 
Jackson.  Indeed,  I  do  not  believe  there  were  many  of  us  who 
failed  to  appreciate  as  unfortunate  the  Board  of  Visitors  letting 
escape  when  presented  the  proffered  opportunities  of  connect- 
ing those  great  men  with  our  University — certainly  as  "  a  tide 
in  the  affairs  of  men,  omitted."  Jackson  made  no  secret  of 
his  ambition  when  he  affirmed :  "  I  desire  to  be  transferred 
to  my  State  University,  as  I  regard  it  the  duty  of  every  man 
to  seek  the  highest  cultivation  of  his  powers,  and  the  widest 
sphere  of  activity  within  his  reach." 

The  untimely  death  of  our  gifted  professor  of  mathematics, 
Edward  H.  Courtenay,  at  the  University,  December  21,  1853, 
opened,  as  Jackson  thought,  a  possible  vista  to  his  cherished 
promotion.  Professor  Alexander  L.  Nelson,  for  the  past  fifty 
years  chief  of  the  mathematical  department  at  Washington 
and  Lee  University,  then  one  of  our  promising  Alumni,  was 
selected  to  take  charge  temporarily  of  Professor  Courtenay's 
course  for  the  remainder  of  the  session,  June  1854,  when  the 
Board  of  Visitors  would  elect  a  permanent  successor.  The 
applicants  were  numerous,  and  among  them  Jackson,  then 
thirty  years  of  age,  whose  application  was  accompanied,  with 
many  letters  from  persons  of  distinction  testifying  to  his  com- 
petent scholarship,  energy,  devotion  to  duty,  courage,  etc. 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  347 

Upon  entering  the  Faculty  of  the  Military  Institute,  July,  1851, 
Jackson  declared  to  a  friend :  "  I  know  war  is  my  true  voca- 
tion, and  my  constant  desire  in  life  will  ever  be  the  career  of 
the  soldier,  and  I  am  only  accepting  this  scholastic  occupation 
during  peace  in  order  to  enjoy  a  continued  practical  acquain- 
tance with  the  art  of  the  artillerist."  When  it  became  known 
that  he  wished  to  be  associated  permanently  with  the  Univer- 
sity, this  same  friend  said  to  him :  "  Have  you  not  departed 
here  from  what  you  told  me,  upon  coming  to  this  Military 
School,  was  the  purpose  of  your  life?  "  Whereupon  this  reply 
came :  "  I  avow  that  my  views  have  changed ;  while  I  still 
believe  I  am  adapted  specially  to  the  soldier's  life,  yet  my  con- 
victions concerning  war  as  a  pathway  to  distinction  have 
greatly  been  modified,  and  I  would  now  by  no  means  accept  a 
commission  in  any  war  the  Government  might  wage,  irrespec- 
tive of  its  morality.  If  my  country  was  assailed  in  such  a  way 
as  to  justify  an  appeal  to  defensive  war  in  God's  sight,  I  should 
desire  to  return  to  military  life;  but  unless  this  happens  I  will 
continue  a  simple  citizen."  Jackson's  hopes  for  the  University 
professorship  were  not  realized — the  appointment  falling  to 
Albert  Taylor  Bledsoe,  professor  of  mathematics  in  the  Uni- 
versity of  Mississippi — but  he  repined  not  the  least  the  failure, 
rather  sanctified  the  slight  disappointment  to  the  better  train- 
ing of  a  liberal  and  manly  character.  Professor  Bledsoe  only 
taught  seven  years  at  the  University,  and  although  the  pos- 
sessor of  a  powerful  intellect,  abstract  and  concrete  knowledge* 
mathematical  and  otherwise,  his  mind  was  more  philosophical 
than  practical,  so  that  the  latter  side  of  instruction  did  not 
appeal  to  him  strongly — that  which  was  just  the  opposite  with 
Jackson.  Mindful  of  how  events  have  shaped  themselves 
there  is  little  doubt  but  that  Jackson  would  have  given  the 
University  an  inheritance  of  greater  value — an  asset  of  per- 
manent endurance  and  perpetual  good. 


CHAPTER    XVIII 
INCIDENTS  AND  COMMENCEMENT  OF  SESSION   1876-77 

General  Lee's  possible  identification  and  association  with  the  University; 
deaths  of  Commodore  Maury  and  Mrs.  Lee.  Off  for  Lexington,  via 
Goshen;  pleasant  midnight  reception,  and  sight-seeing  of  the  next 
two  days.  Gen.  Hunter's  destructive  visit  in  1864;  Baseball  game  and 
banquet.  Commencement,  June,  1877.  Address  by  Maj.  John  W. 
Daniel.  Final  Day  and  Ball.  First  regatta  at  Lynchburg,  crowned 
with  accident  and  defeat,  etc. 

ALTHOUGH  General  Lee  and  his  eldest  son  were  graduates 
of  West  Point,  his  second  was  educated  at  Harvard,  and  his 
third — youngest  and  namesake,  Robert  E. — was  sent  to  our 
University,  where  he  spent  two  sessions,  1 860-61,  1861-62, 
and  from  where  he  entered  the  Confederate  service,  a  very 
young  man,  in  the  spring  of  1862.  These  facts  made  the 
University,  with  her  traditions,  influence  and  faculty,  thor- 
oughly known  and  respected  in  the  Lee  family,  and  by  none 
more  so  than  the  General  himself. 

In  the  spring  and  summer  of  1865  the  University,  perforce, 
went  through  a  process  of  reorganization  and  reassembling 
of  its  teaching  staff  preparatory  to  reopening  on  the  first  of 
October.  Only  the  older  members  of  the  faculty  had  remained 
at  their  accustomed  posts  during  the  belligerent  years,  most 
of  them  serving  the  Confederacy  at  home  or  abroad  in  one  or 
another  capacity.  But  nqw  after  the  restoration  of  peace  it 
was  quite  natural  that  all  would  incline  to  return  in  order  to 
put  forth  their  strongest  energies  in  re-establishing  the  famous 
institution  along  lines  that  might,  perchance,  even  increase  its 
former  greatness  and  usefulness.  It  was  a  crucial  period  with 
General  Lee,  as  with  thousands  of  willing  hearts  and  hands 
who  anxiously  stood  ready  to  contribute,  so  far  as  possible, 
thought,  word  and  act  towards  his  welfare — him  whom  they 
loved,  honored,  yes,  worshiped.  To  him  during  these  several 
months  a  number  of  more  or  less  tempting  opportunities  pre- 
sented themselves,  but  as  it  was  not  the  dollar  and  cent  co- 
efficient— material  remuneration — that  played  the  strongest 

348 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  349 

part,  it  was  difficult  to  make  a  final  decision  from  his  view- 
point— moral  sense  of  obligation  to  his  fallen  country.  This 
final  selection  had  to  be  solved  correctly  according  to  his  own 
question — What  may  I  do  that  will  bring  the  greatest  im- 
mediate and  remote  good  to  my  humbled  people  ?  Not  a  few 
thought  this  high  conception  of  duty  might  best  be  realized 
by  a  connection  with  the  University  in  some  capacity — that 
from  existing  conditions  seeming  impossible,  at  least  perplex- 
ing. The  University,  according  to  Mr.  Jefferson's  wish,  had 
never  been  governed  by  an  executive  head  or  active  president, 
and  possessed  unfilled  no  department  in  which  General  Lee 
had  shown  his  greatest  strength  or  would  probably  grow  into 
liking.  It  was  said  that  even  the  faculty  disapproved  an  in- 
flection of  Mr.  Jefferson's  original  plan  of  government — Pro- 
fessor Schele  being  the  most  pronounced  and  outspoken.  Gen- 
eral Lee,  if  consulted  at  all  upon  the  subject,  no  doubt  ex- 
pressed himself  as  believing  that  his  connection  with  the  State 
University  might  have  in  the  eyes  of  some  an  eleemosynary 
savor,  and  that  others  for  his  personality  might  incline  to  with- 
hold substantial  aid  from  anything  receiving  the  fostering  care 
of  the  State.  We  students  knew  most  of  these  facts  in  the  ab- 
stract, and,  although  possibly  in  error,  felt  absolutely  confident 
that  had  General  Lee  been  approached  by  the  right  power,  in 
the  right  way,  at  the  right  time,  he  would  not  have  hesitated 
a  moment  in  waving  such  conceived  vagaries  and  in  taking  up 
the  presidency  of  the  University — a  great  work  found  neces- 
sary for  some  one  to  assume  forty  years  later.  He  was  a  man 
thoroughly  open  to  convincing  and  telling  argument,  with  a 
vision  of  light  that  readily  dispelled  all  mellow  shades  of  dark- 
ness; he  only  desired  to  be  certain  where  duty  lay,  and  any 
half-way  persuasive  counsel  might  have  gone  far  towards 
shaping  his  interpretation  of  that  duty  to  be  at  the  University. 
The  postponement  of  a  President  was  simply  an  unwise  delay 
— "  hope  deferred  (that)  maketh  the  heart  sick  " — the  result 
of  inefficient  forethought  and  intuition  on  the  part  of  those 
then  in  power.  Oh,  that  they  could  have  possessed  a  mystic 
inspiration,  a  prophetic  dream,  of  the  future  and  its  revela- 
tions! Later  came  the  accepted  offer  from  Washington  Col- 
lege, the  most  wise  step  in  its  history,  as  at  once  it  took  on 
new  life  and  position,  soon  became  recognized  highly  through- 


350  UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA 

out  the  country,  and  to-day  furnishes  the  chief  asset — more 
than  all  others  combined — upon  which  it  continues  to  feed  and 
thrive.  Had  his  life  been  spared  another  decade,  even  duly 
acknowledging  the  subsequent  wise  and  aggressive  adminis- 
tration of  that  institution,  one  can  scarce  predict  accurately 
the  progressive  steps  of  its  onward  march ;  or  instead,  had  his 
life's  crowning  work  been  ordered  amid  our  University  com- 
munity, and  there  been  bequeathed  the  perpetual  touchstone  of 
his  living  personality,  what  even  greater  strides  she  might 
have  taken  towards  imperishable  fame  and  renown!  Every 
student  took  one  or  more  newspapers,  daily  or  otherwise, 
while  those  of  Virginia,  especially  Richmond,  were  to  be  found 
in  many  rooms  and  always  in  the  library.  Those  of  early 
February,  1873,  announced  the  death,  after  several  months  of 
severe  illness,  of  Commodore  Maury,  professor  of  physics  and 
meteorology  in  the  Military  Institute,  Lexington — a  position 
he  had  occupied  with  signal  ability  for  four  years,  becoming  a 
most  popular  teacher  and  esteemed  citizen,  and  whose  death 
was  deplored  throughout  the  scientific  world.  His  body  was 
placed  in  the  Gilham  vault  of  the  cemetery  on  the  hill,  opposite 
the  grave  of  "  Stonewall  "  Jackson,  where,  according  to  his  re- 
quest, it  reposed  until  spring  and  then  was  taken  by  way  of 
his  beloved  Goshen  Pass — famed  in  prose  by  his  own  writings 
and  in  verse  by  those  of  the  gifted  Margaret  J.  Preston,  and 
decorated  for  the  occasion  not  alone  by  nature  but  addition- 
ally by  the  willing  effort  of  loving  hands — to  Goshen,  and 
thence  by  the  Chesapeake  and  Ohio  train  to  Richmond,  to  find 
a  last  resting  place  in  consecrated  Hollywood,  among  legions 
of  other  distinguished  dead.  In  early  November  of  the  same 
year  Mrs.  Mary  Randolph  Custis  Lee,  widow  of  General 
Robert  E.  Lee,  also  died  at  Lexington,  causing  the  press  to 
pay  lengthy  and  deserving  tributes  to  the  memory  of  her  noble 
character  and  life,  at  the  same  time  recounting  much  matter 
incident  to  her  distinguished  husband  and  other  members  of 
her  illustrious  family. 

Thus  it  seemed  in  those  days  a  student  at  the  University 
was  meeting  continually  something  that  called  his  attention  to 
the  small,  quiet  and  cultured  valley  town  fifty  miles  away,  such 
as  intensified  a  desire  for  a  visit — that  which  would  be  ac- 
cepted at  the  first  favorable  opportunity.  While  a  several 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  351 

days'  absence  from  lectures  always  implied  much,  it  was  far 
more  serious  in  the  latter  part  of  May,  when  cramming  for 
examinations  was  in  order.  But  in  the  lives  of  every  one 
there  are  times  for  chance-taking,  and  as  these  already  had 
occasionally  come  my  wayv  I  felt  again  ready  for  such  a  de- 
mand— thus  willing  to  make  the  trip  with  the  baseball  team. 
I  indulged  in  many  delightful  anticipations  during  the  few 
preceding  days  and  in  most  respects  there  was  no  disappoint- 
ment. My  leave  of  absence  bears  the  names,  in  their  in- 
dividual writing,  of  Jas.  F.  Harrison,  Chai.,  J.  W.  Mallet, 
F.  P.  Dunnington,  J.  S.  Davis,  and  was  secured  hurriedly 
the  morning  of  departure.  Our  journeying  party  consisted 
of  about  thirty-five,  but  fully  an  equal  number  formed  an 
escort  and  assembled  at  the  depot  to  encourage,  show  interest 
and  wish  us  Godspeed  in  the  coming  contest.  Indeed  not  a 
few  became  enthusiastically  demonstrative,  expressing  sincere 
regrets  at  not  having  arranged  to  go  along. 

Our  train,  amid  many  noisy  exclamations  from  ourselves 
and  those  left  behind,  pulled  out  of  Charlottesville  shortly 
after  2  o'ck,  P.  M.,  the  day  being  balmy  and  ideal  for  the 
full  enjoyment  of  such  a  trip.  Most  of  us  had  been  grinding 
faithfully  over  studies  for  the  past  months  without  any  "  sur- 
cease of  sorrow/'  and  now  felt  keenly  a  delight  over  the  forth- 
coming needed  pleasures.  A  number  of  us  being  on  an  un- 
frequented route  desired  to  make  the  most  of  it  and  occupied 
the  rear  platform  of  the  last  car,  where  could  best  be  viewed 
the  landscape  becoming  more  and  more  picturesque  as  we  sped 
to  higher  altitudes.  The  scenes  continued  to  vary  as  the  many 
view-points  changed  from  the  incessant  curving  of  the  road, 
each  more  impressive  until  the  climax  was  reached  near  the 
mountain  top  (Afton),  when  was  unveiled  below  a  panorama 
of  outstretched  valley  lands  intuitively  unsurpassed  by  anything 
in  the  world.  Plots  of  stately  trees,  green  cereals  and  grass, 
intermingled  with  the  many  fields  that  had  recently  been  fal- 
lowed for  spring  crops,  all  so  diminutive  from  the  elevation, 
lay  spread  out  as  far  as  eyes  could  range  in  beautiful  contrast, 
yet  grateful  harmony.  It  was  the  famous  and  fertile  Pied- 
mont Valley,  revealing  itself  fifteen  hundred  feet  below  like 
one  vast  garden  covering  many  miles,  dotted  with  peaceful 
homes,  fruitful  orchards  and  vineyards — those  giving  to  the 


352  UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA 

world  the  celebrated  Albemarle  pippin  apple  and  the  delicious 
Monticello  brands  of  wine.  To  our  immediate  left  towered 
the  mighty  cliffs  around  whose  tapering  sides  we  had  made 
gradually  a  struggling  ascent,  while  on  the  right  high  ranges 
seemingly  extended  into  infinite  distance.  Onward  we  pushed 
to  be  shut  in  by  huge  boulders  and  a  cloudless  sky,  to  be 
appalled  by  a  long  damp  dark  weird  tunnel,  and  delighted  by 
an  escape  into  the  stately  mountain  peaks  dissolving  themselves 
into  the  far-famed  Shenandoah  Valley.  In  quick  succession 
followed  the  newly  established  junction  (Basic  City)  with  the 
then  Shenandoah  Valley  Road,  the  yellowish  south-fork  of  the 
Shenandoah  River  skirting  the  western  slope  of  the  Blue 
Ridge,  the  prosperous  village  of  Waynesboro,  where  on  March 
2,  1865,  Gen.  Sheridan's  victory  gave  the  Federal  Army  there- 
after sole  control  of  that  entire  territory,  and  finally  the  hilly 
town  of  Staunton,  noted  so  favorably  among  us  students  as 
the  center  of  southern  female  education.  An  hour  later,  6 
o'ck,  brought  us  to  Goshen,  a  small  station  partly  bordered 
by  woods,  consisting  of  several  dozen  modest  frame  houses 
occupied  by  its  entire  population  of  one  or  two  hundred.  This 
was  the  nearest  railroad  point  to  the  Rockbridge  Alum  and 
Jorden  Alum  Springs  (ten  miles),  and  to  Lexington  (twenty- 
one  miles) — all  three  having  to  be  reached  by  private  convey- 
ance or  public  stage.  The  hotel  was  rather  an  indifferent 
whitewashed  building  in  close  proximity  to  the  north  side  of 
the  track,  but  here  we  enjoyed  a  good  substantial  supper,  tak- 
ing thereafter  stages  for  our  destination  that  lay  in  a  south- 
ward direction  through  a  rugged  mountainous  country  over  a 
rough  and  tortuous  road.  As  our  journey,  "  like  a  wounded 
snake  drew  its  slow  length  along,"  in  the  glimmer  of  that  beau- 
tifully clear  and  starlight  night  distinctive  outlines  could  be 
seen  of  the  many  towering  cliffs  and  stately  boulders.  All  na- 
ture seemed  silent  and  at  rest,  save  our  little  caravan  and  an  oc- 
casional beast  of  burden  or  bird  of  prey,  whose  mingled  shrill 
and  mellow  notes  apparently  bid  us  here  and  there  a  friendly 
welcome.  As  for  ourselves,  we  were  a  noisy  and  mirthful 
band  overflowing  with  pleasures  present  and  those  considered 
in  sight.  Viewing  picturesque  scenery — that  of  the  Goshen 
Pass  excelling  all  other — singing  college  songs  and  sacred 
hymns,  telling  jokes  and  stories,  running  and  walking,  all 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  353 

served  in  turn  to  pass  acceptably  the  earlier  hours,  but  as  it 
grew  late  even  such  a  diversified  program  almost  ceased  to 
amuse,  so  that  none  of  us  regretted  when  our  drivers  shortly 
after  midnight  pulled  up  at  the  brick  hotel  on  the  south  side 
of  Main  Street,  Lexington.  The  Washington  and  Lee  boys 
were  out  in  force,  and  also  a  few  from  the  Military  Institute, 
to  extend  the  late  but  hearty  greeting,  while  our  souls  were 
thoroughly  responsive  to  the  genuine  cordiality  of  the  occasion. 
A  rest  lasting  far  into  the  morning  completely  invigorated 
the  body  and  mind,  so  that  the  day  broke  in  only  to  find  us 
ready  and  eager  to  accept  every  avenue  of  profitable  enjoy- 
ment according  to  individual  taste  and  preference — walking, 
driving,  riding  horseback,  visiting  friends  and  ladies,  inspect- 
ing graves,  churches  and  things  educational.  In  the  very 
shadow  of  the  hotel,  slightly  to  the  north  and  east,  were  the 
grounds,  chapel  and  various  buildings  of  Washington  and  Lee, 
while  in  a  continued  line  eastward  along  the  same  ridge  and 
road,  separated  simply  by  a  skeleton  fence  and  gate,  stood 
those  of  the  Military  Institute — none  having  been  seen  by 
most  of  us  until  the  dawning  of  that  Sabbath  morning,  and 
possessing  for  each  an  endless  interest  susceptible  of  being  satis- 
fied only  by  personal  inspection.  Nor  were  the  graves  of  Lee 
and  Jackson  remote — the  former  in  the  rear  of  the  chapel  on 
the  University  campus,  shortly  within  the  enclosure  and  to  the 
right  of  the  road ;  the  latter  in  the  cemetery  on  the  brow  of  the 
hill  at  the  western  outskirts,  to  the  left  of  Main  Street  as  you 
leave  the  town. 

Then  again  the  several  churches  were  presided  over  by 
clergymen  of  more  than  local  distinction,  the  Episcopal  and 
Presbyterian  being  noted  especially — the  one  for  the  associa- 
tion of  General  Lee,  the  other  for  the  many  years  of  personal 
membership  and  attendance  of  General  Jackson.  On  this 
morning  the  bells  rang  out  their  clear  resonant  sounds,  appeal- 
ing alike  to  all  humanity,  strange  and  familiar,  and  I  was  not 
long  in  deciding  that  the  sacred  line  would  be  most  resource- 
ful to  me.  As  a  result  several  of  us  went  first  to  the  Pres- 
byterian Church,  a  red  brick  building  of  creditable  age  and 
size  on  the  east  side  of  Main  Street  slightly  west  of  the  hotel, 
where  entering  the  east  door  and  accepting  the  lasT  seat — not 
intending  to  remain  through  the  entire  service — we  heard  the 


354  UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA 

greater  portion  of  a  scriptural  sermon  by  Rev.  Dr.  Kirk- 
patrick.  After  leaving  here  we  visited  the  Episcopal  Church 
and  the  University  Chapel  in  time  to  witness  the  dispersing  of 
those  in  attendance,  so  that  in  comparing  notes  at  the  dinner 
table  we  all  were  gratified  in  having  accomplished  so  much 
to  our  liking — heard  many  good  words  of  advice,  saw  strange 
students,  cadets  and  pretty  girls  galore,  and  also  at  close  range 
most  of  the  important  and  noted  personages  of  Lexington,  in- 
cluding General  G.  W.  Custis  Lee,  his  two  sisters,  Mary  and 
Mildred,  General  Francis  H.  Smith,  Margaret  J.  Preston,  J. 
Randolph  Tucker  and  other  professors,  with  their  families  of 
the  two  institutions.  In  the  afternoon  some  of  us  walked  out 
to  the  cemetery,  where  rest  many  who  had  contributed  their 
energies  to  the  upbuilding  of  that  educational  center  and  town, 
finding  it  an  inviting,  well-cared-for  enclosure  of  several  acres 
with  a  few  gravelly  and  grassy  walks,  much  shrubbery  and  a 
number  of  smaller  trees.  Only  a  few  lots  had  railing  or  cop- 
ing, but  all  a  goodly  covering  of  grass  with  one  or  more 
graves  marked  with  suitable  slabs.  The  "  Stonewall  "  Jackson 
grave  in  the  Jackson  lot,  of  course,  claimed  most  interest  and 
at  that  time  seemed  in  hopeless  neglect,  barring  the  well-worn 
path  thereto  which  gave  evidence  of  the  extreme  respect  and 
homage  paid  by  untold  journeying  pilgrims.  This  lot,  as  I 
remember  it,  was  in  the  southeastern  section  of  the  cemetery, 
not  large  but  enclosed  by  an  iron  fence  having  several  broken 
stiles  and  a  gate  bearing  the  name  Jackson.  Within  were 
several  graves — his  own,  nearest  the  east  fence  line  and  the 
town,  was  unmarked,  except  by  a  green  mound  bearing  some 
faded  flowers,  while  those  at  his  side,  first  wife  and  small 
child,  had  plain  marble  slabs  much  discolored  by  the  ravages 
of  time.  After  an  hour  we  retraced  our  steps  down  Main 
Street  through  the  town,  and  on  our  left  first  entered  by  an 
unpretentious  wooden  gate  the  University  campus,  following 
a  road — the  common  artery  of  the  two  institutions — which 
with  slight  ascent  bore  to  the  right,  thence  eastward  in  a 
straight  line  through  a  second  gate  into  the  Military  Institute 
grounds.  To  the  left  of  this  road  and  parallel  with  it,  but  at 
some  elevation  and  distance,  stood  in  a  straight  row  the  Uni- 
versity buildings,  General  Lee's  residence  and  those  of  several 
professors;  to  the  right  in  close  proximity  was  the  Chapel, 


Professor  George  Frederick  Holmes,  LJv.D.,  at  fifty-five 
1820-1897 

See  page  408 


FACING    354 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  355 

library  and  General  Lee's  tomb,  and  nearly  parallel  with  it, 
but  further  onward  within  the  Military  Institute  grounds,  a 
row  of  cottages  .occupied  by  its  professors. 

Although  the  day  was  a  holiday,  on  which  ordinarily  the 
buildings  would  be  closed,  the  janitors  in  consideration  of  our 
visit  stood  ready  to  direct  and  admit  us  to  all  that  could  pos- 
sibly be  of  interest.  Here,  of  course,  the  Chapel  and  General 
Lee's  tomb  claimed  first  attention — the  former  being  of  good 
proportions  and  design,  possessing  to  an  unusual  degree  an 
air  of  brightness  and  comfort.  The  galleries  on  either  side 
were  low,  supported  by  round  columns  and  terminated  with 
curved  ends  near  the  rather  high  and  deep  platform  spanning 
the  entire  southern  end  of  the  room.  This  platform  was  fur- 
nished with  a  red  carpet,  a  lecturing  stand  in  front,  a  sofa  and 
several  chairs  back  near  the  wall,  and  above  on  the  wall  hung 
portraits  of  Washington,  Jefferson,  Madison,  Marshall  and 
other  great  men.  Under  the  Chapel  was  a  basement  of  which 
the  south  room  was  used  by  General  Lee  as  an  office  that 
obtained  light  from  southern  and  western  windows,  being  en- 
tered by  a  door  on  the  east.  The  room  was  of  good  size,  low 
ceiling,  white  walls  and  furnished  with  several  heavy  antique 
pieces — desk,  center-table,  small  bookcase,  sofa  and  chairs 
upholstered  with  green  leather — and  the  contents  were  claimed 
to  have  remained  untouched  since  General  Lee's  death,  every- 
thing being  just  as  he  left  it  the  day  of  his  final  sickness. 
The  southern  or  rear  wall  of  the  Chapel  building  being  down 
a  hill  was  some  feet  higher  than  the  front,  and  as  General 
Lee's  room  and  the  library  occupied  the  lower  floor  it  was 
found  possible  to  construct  in  the  library  area,  in  contact  with 
this  southern  wall,  a  vault  whose  top  when  covered  with  the 
white  marble  lettered  slab  was  level  with  the  library  floor. 
Here  a  few  feet  from  his  working  office  reposed  his  remains, 
also  those  of  his  wife  and  daughter  (Agnes),  which  long  since 
have  been  transferred  to  the  other  side  of  the  wall  where  has 
been  erected  a  beautiful  mausoleum,  the  corner  stone  being  laid 
November  29,  1878,  whose  lower  story  is  a  crypt  of  twenty- 
eight  burial  chambers — intended  to  be  solely  the  Lee  family 
vault — and  whose  upper  story  is  continuous  with  chapel  room 
— being  connected  therewith  from  its  platform  by  a  graceful 
arched  entrance,  first  into  the  smaller  ante-room,  thence  into 


356  UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA 

the  larger  monumental  chamber  where  rests  the  sarcophagus 
surmounted  by  a  beautiful  white  marble  recumbent  statue  of 
General  Lee,  head  eastward,  chiseled  by  Valentine,  Virginia's 
noted  sculptor. 

This  statue  was  conveyed  from  Richmond  to  Lexington, 
April,  1875,  creating  at  the  time  no  little  favorable  comment 
and  respectful  attention  from  our  student-body,  and  on  this 
occasion  of  our  visit  received  from  each  of  us  close  inspection 
in  its  temporary  well-guarded  room.  I  distinctly  recall  ex- 
tending a  finger  within  short  range  of  the  right  arm  of  the 
statue  with  the  remark — in  this  arm  old  Traveler  broke  a  bone 
during  the  summer  of  1862,  seriously  handicapping  the  General 
at  Antietam — whereupon  the  attendants  quickly  seized  my 
arm,  imploring  to  keep  hands  off  as  the  oil  in  the  body  might 
discolor. 

On  the  upper  (north)  side  of  the  sloping  lawn,  just  opposite 
the  Chapel  and  at  a  higher  elevation,  stood  the  main  Univer- 
sity building,  about  two  hundred  and  fifty  feet  long,  of  brick 
construction,  and  of  irregular  height  and  depth.  The  three- 
story  central  portion,  with  cupola  and  tall  round  columns,  pro- 
jected  a  few  feet  in  the  foreground  beyond  the  adjoining  sides 
with  square  columns,  and  these  three  portions  were  connected 
by  smaller  and  lower  links.  While  the  lines  were  decidedly 
broken,  yet  the  tout  ensemble  was  far  from  bad — indeed  rather 
attractive.  It  was  this  building  that  General  Hunter,  during 
his  encampment  in  Lexington,  June  12-15,  1864,  ordered  to  be 
burnt  along  with  the  Military  Institute  and  Governor  Letch- 
er's  residence,  but  fortunately  was  rescued  (the  others  meet- 
ing the  designed  sadder  fate)  through  the  merciful  interven- 
tion of  subordinate  officers,  who  seemingly  possessed  a  greater 
respect  for  education  and  the  memory  of  Washington.  They 
were  helpless,  however,  in  preventing  the  destruction  of  its 
apparatus,  books  and  other  useful  interior  furnishings,  as  well 
as  much  valuable  property  that  contributed  to  the  material 
worth  of  the  community.  On  this  visit  we  found  lecture 
rooms,  apparatus,  laboratories,  museum,  and  hall  of  literary 
societies  all  thoroughly  equipped  as  though  forgetful  of  the 
direful  past. 

From  here  we  leisurely  walked  eastward  by  several  resi- 
dences, including  General  Lee's,  and  intersected  at  an  angle  the 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  357 

roadway  running  south,  entering  the  adjoining  Military  In- 
stitute campus  through  a  gate,  indicating  the  dividing  line  be- 
tween the  contiguous  properties.  The  imposing  main  granite 
building,  beautifully  elevated  as  a  tower  of  strength  to  the  over- 
looking southward  valley,  four  or  five  stories,  and  several 
hundred  feet  square  with  fortress-like  turrets  unfurling  flags 
straight  to  the  breeze,  a  cannon  here  and  there,  and  manly 
uniformed  cadets  at  every  turn,  made  our  approach  on  that 
Sabbath  afternoon  ever  grateful  and  lasting  in  memory.  It 
was  in  this  building  that  "  Stonewall "  Jackson  had  taught  for 
ten  years  and  from  whose  halls  hundreds  had  gone  forth  well 
equipped  to  bear  with  distinction  the  trials  of  bloody  warfare. 
Indeed,  it  was  her  battalion  of  youthful  cadets  on  that  memor- 
able May  15,  1864,  that  went  far  towards  making  New 
Market  a  signal  victory,  and  for  several  months  thereafter 
continued  to  be  an  element  of  usefulness.  But  the  further 
service  of  this  building  was  doomed  to  be  of  short  duration, 
as  General  David  Hunter,  the  immediate  successor  of  General 
Franz  Sigel — the  Federal  commander  at  New  Market — was 
not  unmindful  of  that  defeat  and  the  part  played  thereto  by 
the  gallant  young  men  of  her  training,  and  determined  if 
opportunity  presented  her  career  should  cease.  He  had  been 
directed  to  advance  from  Staunton  to  Lynchburg  by  way  of 
Charlottesville,  through  Rockfish  Gap,  but  fancying  this 
strongly  guarded  diverted  his  order  by  accepting  the  course 
up  the  Valley,  via  Lexington,  Buchanan  and  Peaks  of  Otter, 
applying  the  firebrand  at  every  turn  and  leaving  merciless  des- 
olation in  his  wake.  At  Lexington  he  halted  several  days, 
quartering  his  men  in  and  around  the  handsome  Military  In- 
stitute building,  and  upon  evacuation  paid  the  miscreant's 
gratitude  for  a  tenure  of  hospitality  by  firing  it  in  numerous 
places  only  to  leave  as  pathetic  sentinels  the  tottering  walls. 
Thus  perished  that  around  which  clustered  in  the  hearts  of  so 
many  an  inseparable  sentiment — a  choice  library  of  ten  thou- 
sand volumes,  the  teaching  rooms  and  philosophical  apparatus 
of  "  Stonewall "  Jackson,  museum,  chemicals  and  all  that  con- 
tributed to  a  properly  assembled  teaching  equipment.  Surely 
vengeance  was  his — Shylock-like  he  demanded  his  pound  of 
fair  flesh  and  received  it  together  with  its  veritable  life's 
blood.  But  Phoenix-like,  it  arose  from  its  ashes,  as  on  this 


358  UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA 

memorable  visit  there  was  nothing  to  remind  one  of  that  sad 
epoch — for  through  the  munificence  of  Virginia  everything 
had  been  restored  to  its  pristine  glory,  barring  possibly  slight 
improved  changes  in  the  interior  spacing.  Indeed,  the  lecture 
and  living  rooms,  laboratories,  engineering  and  drawing  de- 
partments all  showed  age,  use  and  abuse. 

Monday  morning  was  taken  up  largely  in  retracing  some 
steps  of  the  yesterday,  visiting  spots  of  minor  importance  and 
walking  to  points  of  vantage  to  view  the  surrounding  country, 
so  beautiful  and  picturesque.  Some  of  the  players  went  to  the 
ball-grounds  for  preliminary  practice;  many  of  us  talked  and 
speculated  on  results,  while  a  few  supported  their  favorite 
nine  with  small  monetary  consideration — betting  without  odds, 
thus  indicating  supposed  equal  strength.  Our  colors — (card- 
inal) red  and  (silver)  gray,  could  be  seen  here  and  there  upon 
the  fair  as  well  as  sterner  sex,  but  naturally  the  blue  predomi- 
nated. The  game  was  called  shortly  after  3  o'ck,  and  con- 
tinued for  three  hours  with  unabated  interest — often  wild  ex- 
citement. The  attendance  was  considered  large  and  represen- 
tative, the  nines  well-matched,  and  the  result  in  positive  doubt 
until  the  last  man  was  out — when  the  small  contingent  of  red 
and  gray  gave  a  deep  sigh  of  relief  over  victory  being  theirs, 
with  a  score  of  19  to  17.  The  Military  Institute  following 
proved  most  loyal  friends,  doing  much  to  encourage  and  make 
us  realize  that  we  were  not  altogether  strangers  in  a  strange 
land,  while  the  Washington  and  Lee  boys  that  night  took  us 
again  into  good  fellowship  with  a  finely  prepared  supper, 
at  which  toasts,  songs,  jokes  and  unbounded  merriment  pre- 
vailed. Late  hours  found  us  seeking  and  leaving  bed  that 
morning,  Tuesday,  and  the  afternoon  hour  for  leaving, 
2  o'ck,  dawned  upon  us  sooner  than  could  acceptably  be 
realized. 

The  return  trip  homeward  was  largely  a  repetition  of  the 
going,  except  daylight  and  nightfall  were  happily  interchanged 
upon  the  extremes  of  the  route — thus  affording  full  view  of 
the  rolling  valley  lands,  running  streams,  Goshen  Pass  and 
other  rugged  mountainous  scenery  as  we  slowly  journeyed 
along  the  uneven  and  tortuous  pike.  Every  soul  seemed  self- 
satisfied  and  joyously  contributed  his  share  of  fun-making  to 
the  pleasant  passing  of  the  hours.  Goshen  was  reached  about 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  359 

dusk,  where,  after  taking  supper,  we  boarded  our  train  for 
Charlottesville,  arriving  there  at  midnight.  The  end  had 
come  and  with  it  no  sorrow;  victory  had  been  won  and  the 
University's  good  reputation  sustained.  Practically  two  days 
of  student-life  had  been  sacrificed,  but  we  were  more  intelligent 
beings,  as  a  veritable  equivalent  of  knowledge  in  another  direc- 
tion had  been  gained — that  which  at  the  time  was  helpful  and 
diverting,  and  has  continued  to  shed  occasionally  pleasant 
recollections  along  the  many  intervening  years. 

Home-letter,  Sunday  night,  June  7th.  "  Providence  certainly  has 
been  very  kind  to  me  while  here  in  ordering  my  social  ties — those  that 
have  been  most  delightful  and  sincere.  As  large  and  small  communities 
usually  divide  according  to  religious  belief,  so  in  Charlottesville  this  is 
not  only  true  but  very  noticeable,  giving  a  kind  of  class  distinction  which 
I  understand  is  in  conformity  with  other  portions  of  the  State.  The 
Episcopalians  seem  most  prominent  and  select,  although  the  Presbyterians 
are  a  very  worthy  second,  while  the  Baptists — most  numerous — Methodists 
and  Catholics  take  position  as  named.  Through  some  fortuitous  power  I 
affiliate  to  the  extent  of  my  limited  time,  with  all  alike,  visiting  homes 
irrespective  of  faith,  and  making  it  a  point  never  to  discuss  seriously 
religion  or  politics.  I  must  specify  several  families  whose  confidence  and 
hospitality  I  frequently  enjoy.  Of  the  Episcopal  I  may  begin  with  Mr. 
Antrim's,  whose  daughter,  Miss  Emma,  possesses  a  strong  cultivated 
mind,  coupled  with  striking  animation  and  'sparkling  wit.  Their  residence, 
in  the  rear  of  the  Episcopal  Church,  is  commodious,  attractively  furnished, 
and  occupies  a  large  plot  of  ground  filled  with  shrubbery,  flowers  and 
trees,  so  that  one  feels  amid  country  although  in  the  heart  of  the  town. 
Another  home  of  equal  charm — The  Farm — is  that  of  Mr.  Parish's,  on 
the  eastern  outskirts,  whose  grounds  of  several  acres  are  covered  with 
stately  oaks,  ornamental  walks,  rustic  seats,  trellises,  etc.  Although  his 
older  daughters,  Anna  and  Julia,  are  ladies  of  much  dignity  and  intelli- 
gence, it  is  the  younger,  Miss  Emma,  that  has  most  attraction — she  being 
of  bright  mind,  vivacious  manners  and  strong  womanly  personality — 
characteristics  that  surround  her  with  not  a  few  appreciative  gentlemen 
friends.  Mrs.  Parish  was  a  Miss  Stockton,  of  New  Jersey,  and  now 
beautifully  maintains  the  dignity  and  grace  for  which  many  members 
of  that  family  have  been  noted.  Of  the  Presbyterians  I  am  most  intimate 
at  Colonel  Duke's,  whose  home — Sunnyside — is  located  quite  a  mile 
northeast  of  the  University.  Here  myself  and  clubmates  always  find  a 
happy  greeting,  since  the  two  sons,  Tom  and  Willie,  are  active  members, 
while  the  only  daughter,  Miss  Mamie,  is  ever  loyal  in  the  defence  and 
admiration  of  her  brothers'  affiliation  and  friends.  Of  the  Baptists  I 
have  found  the  home  of  Mr.  John  T.  Randolph's — Verdant  Lawn — a  most 
delightful  spot  to  visit.  This  is  three  miles  from  the  University,  just  at 
the  western  base  of  Carter's  Mountain,  which  lifts  its  green  serpentine 
crest  to  a  lofty  altitude  reflecting  throughout  the  valley  below  in  striking 
contrast  the  shadows  of  frequent  passing  clouds.  The  daughter,  Miss 
Julia,  is  very  refined  and  attractive,  with  good  musical  talent  and  lovely 
disposition — the  possessor  of  many  friends."  .  .  . 

Home-letter,  Sunday  afternoon,  June  I7th.  "  I  finished  my  last  ex- 
amination on  Friday,  so  I  am  resting  upon  laurels  won  or  lost — time  alone 


360  UNIVERSITY    OF   VIRGINIA 

will  reveal  which.  Two  carriage  loads  of  us  club-mates  drove  out  to 
Rev.  John  T.  Randolph's  yesterday  afternoon,  where  we  spent  delightfully 
a  couple  of  hours.  I  am  invited  to  spend  several  days  there  this  week, 
previous  to  Commencement  which  begins  next  Sunday.  The  Regatta  comes 
off  at  Lynchburg  on  the  3Oth,  and  of  course  I  propose  to  take  it  in,  but 
will  return  here  the  following  day  to  remain  until  Wednesday,  when  I 
will  leave  for  home,  stopping  over  in  Baltimore  until  Friday.  I  regret 
for  some  reasons  that  this  is  my  last  year  here,  but  I  feel  equipped,  after  a 
little  rounding,  to  take  my  place  in  the  field  of  laborers,  and  now  being 
twenty-one  I  recognize  it  a  duty  to  launch  out  in  order  to  produce  rather 
than  consume.  If  one  is  unable  to  bring  success  after  having  enjoyed 
my  advantages  then  I  will  be  surprised  beyond  measure.  We  must  talk 
over  and  reason  concerning  my  future  possibilities  as  soon  as  I  reach 
home — let  us  have  a  conclusion,  the  sooner  the  better.  ...  I  could 
have  made  more  out  of  my  years  here  by  grinding  continually  over  books 
and  lectures,  but  I  am  perfectly  satisfied  with  results.  I  have  preserved 
a  happy  medium — neither  bored  myself  or  others,  attended  to  my  own 
business  and  let  others  alone,  had  much  pleasure  and  learned  a  very  great 
deal.  Education  is  not  altogether  centered  in  books  and  what  wise  men 
say,  for  it  is  my  belief  that  such  matter  is  only  of  value  to  the  extent  it 
becomes  assimilated  and  creative  of  mind  development,  fertility  and  orig- 
inality. With  or  without  knowledge  the  personal  equation  counts  for 
m'uch,  so  that  mother-wit  and  inheritance  may  shine  brightest,  if  it  shines  at 
all.  I  feel  ready  for  the  fight— it  is  only  health  I  ask. 

Commencement  this  year  began  Sunday,  June  24th,  when  at 
night  Rev.  Dr.  John  A.  Broadus  delivered  the  annual  sermon 
before  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.,  in  the  Public  Hall,  which  was  packed 
with  an  intelligent  and  cultivated  audience.  This  gentleman 
on  several  previous  occasions  during  my  University  career 
had  delighted  the  students  with  his  forceful  reasoning  and 
thought,  and  this  time  proved  no  exception. 

Monday  night — Wash.  Celebration.  After  prayer  by  Rev. 
Robert  J.  McBryde,  the  President,  Mr.  Frank  P.  Parish,  Va., 
in  a  neat  speech  introduced  the  Orator,  Mr.  Eugene  Williams, 
Ala.,  who  emphasized  the  fact  that  the  orator  selected  by  the 
Committee  of  the  Faculty  had  resigned  several  days  before, 
and  that  he  under  solicitations  but  disadvantages  had  consented 
to  take  his  place.  He  soon  announced  his  theme,  "  England's 
Conquered  Neighbor,  Poor  Downtrodden  Ireland,"  laid  special 
stress  upon  the  lack  of  interest  we  feel  towards  Ireland,  gave 
a  vivid  account  of  her  conquest  and  the  harsh  laws  by  which 
she  is  governed,  eulogized  her  orators,  statesmen,  poets,  war- 
riors and  patriots,  and  predicted  the  coming  of  her  disinthral- 
ment  at  no  distant  day.  While  this  oration  was  brief  it  was 
well-written,  well-delivered  and  frequently  elicited  ripples  of 


UNIVERSITY    OF   VIRGINIA  361 

applause.  After  this  the  President  conferred  the  debater's 
medal  upon  Mr.  J.  F.  Ellison,  Va.,  who  received  and  acknowl- 
edged the  same  in  a  short  but  highly  creditable  speech. 

Tuesday  night — Jeff.  Celebration.  In  spite  of  the  rain  the 
Public  Hall  was  crowded,  and  after  prayer  by  Rev.  Robert 
J.  McBryde,  the  acting  President,  Mr.  J.  Allen  Southall,  in 
the  absence  of  the  regularly  elected  President,  Mr.  Ben.  D. 
Whiteley,  introduced  the  Orator,  Mr.  C.  A.  Culberson,  Texas, 
who  at  once  announced  his  subject  as,  "  The  French  Revolu- 
tion." He  eloquently  insisted  that  the  excesses  of  the  Revolu- 
tion were  merely  incidental  and  that  the  hearts  of  the  French 
people  longed  for  freedom — that  for  which  they  were  willing 
to  die;  he  sketched  the  Revolution  giving  an  analysis  of  the 
principles  which  guided  the  revolters,  recognized  their  denial 
of  the  truth  of  revolution  and  the  rock  on  which  they  split, 
admitted  the  errors  and  crimes  of  their  many  leaders,  but  held 
up  Lafayette  as  a  better  product  of  revolutionary  principles, 
comparing  him,-  to  the  unbounded  applause  of  the  audience,  to 
our  own  beloved — General  Robert  E.  Lee.  After  this  the 
President  conferred  the  debater's  medal  upon  Mr.  A.  G.  Stuart, 
Va.,  who,  in  the  presence  of  his  honored  father — A.  H.  H. 
Stuart,  Secretary  of  the  Interior  under  President  Filmore — 
made  an  exceedingly  felicitous  response  in  which  he  pledged 
himself  not  to  regard  the  prize  as  the  goal  but  as  the  starting 
point  of  his  aspirations. 

Wednesday  night — Joint  Celebration.  The  address  before 
the  two  societies  this  year  was  delivered  by  one  of  Virginia's 
most  gifted  sons,  Maj.  John  W.  Daniel,  then  spoken  of  gen- 
erally as  the  next  governor  of  the  State.  He  began  his  ad- 
dress with  a  beautiful  allusion  to  the  circumstances  which 
surrounded  him  and  the  hallowed  memories  which  clustered 
around  the  place  where  he  stood,  and  then  graphically  intro- 
duced his  theme,  "  Conquered  Nations."  In  substance  he  af- 
firmed :  While  in  one  sense  there  is  no  conqueror  but  God, 
and  the  hand  of  God  could  be  traced  in  all  history,  yet  he  pro- 
posed to  show  that  the  fate  of  the  South  had  been  but  the  fate 
of  the  whole  human  family,  and  that  solace  and  hope  may  be 
gathered  from  well-nigh  every  page  of  the  world's  history. 
That  America  is  the  spoil  of  conquest  and  the  refuge  of  the 
conquered  and  oppressed,  and  that  the  settlers  of  New  Eng- 


362    ,  UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA 

land,  Pennsylvania,  Georgia,  South  Carolina  and  Virginia 
were  all  conquered  peoples  fleeing  from  oppression.  He  then 
inquired  into  the  origin  of  the  conquering  English,  and  showed 
how  they,  too,  had  been  conquered,  and  how  the  rule  of  the 
Norman  conqueror  had  been  "  woe  to  the  vanquished."  Then 
followed  a  vivid  picture  of  the  doings  of  "  Norman  carpet- 
baggers," and  the  sportive  cruelties  and  cruel  sports  of  the 
conquerors,  showing  at  the  same  time  how  this  state  of  things 
developed  the  "  English  Kuklux,"  whose  existence  is  verified 
by  better  testimony  than  that  of  a  partisan  congressional  com- 
mittee. He  portrayed  the  benefits  which  the  Normans  brought 
to  the  English,  and  how  Norman  and  Saxon  blood  gradually 
blended  together  until  "  conquered  England  came  to  the  front 
as  conqueror."  Magna  Charta  was  wrested  from  the  barons, 
great  ideas  of  constitutional  freedom  were  generated,  and  the 
conqueror's  yoke  became  at  last  the  triumphal  arch  of  free- 
dom. He  showed  all  nations  to  be  conquered  nations,  illus- 
trating his  position  by  reference  to  Scotland,  Ireland,  France, 
Spain,  Carthage,  Rome,  Greece,  Egypt,  Arabia,  Asia  Minor, 
Turkey  and  Prussia.  He  drew  illustrations  from  history  to 
show  how  frequently  the  little  nations  are  the  conquerors,  and 
argued  that  "  the  survival  of  the  fittest  "  is  the  true  philosophy 
of  conquest.  He  deduced  a  number  of  "  truths  of  conquest," 
illustrating  and  enforcing  them  by  bright  historical  examples, 
showing  the  results  of  conquests.  He  alluded  to  the  results 
of  our  own  late  war,  and  the  effort  to  enthral  the  Southern 
mind  by  partisan  conquerors,  showing  that  while  the  intelligent 
master  was  stricken  down,  the  rude,  untaught  slave  was  ele- 
vated to  the  highest  places  of  government.  He  argued  that 
physical  geography,  to  a  great  extent,  conquered  the  South, 
the  configuration  of  the  continent  to  a  large  extent  preserving 
the  unity  of  the  American  race.  Then  he  related  the  great  dis- 
advantages under  which  the  South  went  into  the  war,  and  de- 
clared that  the  wrath  of  the  tremendous  revolution  left  no 
condition  of  her  people  at  its  close  which  the  beginning  found. 
Between  North  and  South  the  war  eliminated,  annihilated  its 
cause.  What  was  that  cause  ?  Slavery  was  the  material  bone 
of  contention ;  secession  was  the  formula  fiction  of  law  adopted 
in  pleading  for  its  defence.  The  war  ended,  but  slavery  has 
departed  for  evermore,  and  by  the  arbitrament  of  battle  seces- 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  363 

sion  was  buried  with  it  in  a  common  grave,  and  there  is  noth- 
ing more  to  divide  us.  He  further  ably  argued  the  duty  of 
the  South  in  the  present  crisis,  and  declared  that  the  South -is 
rising  up,  and  emphasized  the  sentiment — let  the  gallant  South 
and  generous  North  rejoice  alike  that  the  South  is  looking  up. 
"  Standing  side  by  side  by  the  bier  of  the  honored  dead,  let  the 
North  and  South  alike  raise  their  eyes  to  the  mild  and  gentle 
majesty  of  true  faith;  with  one  voice  let  them  speak  faith  and 
friendship  between  North  and  South  for  evermore — there  is 
no  conqueror  but  God."  At  the  conclusion  of  this  brilliant 
address,  Professor  Thomas  R.  Price  conferred  in  a  happy 
manner  the  Magazine  medal  upon  Mr.  William  P.  Kent,  Va., 
who  made  an  appropriate  speech  in  acknowledgment  of  the 
honor. 

Thursday  morning — Commencement  or  Final  Day.  At  10 
o'ck,  the  entire  University  contingent  and  numerous  strangers 
assembled  in  the  Public  Hall  for  the  usual  conferring  of  diplo- 
mas and  certificates  of  proficiency,  which  lasted  about  two 
hours.  At  night  followed  the  great  event  to  those  fond  of 
the  terpsichorean  art — Final  Ball — which,  owing  to  the  near 
completion  of  the  museum  building,  was  held  there  amid  many 
of  the  specimens  that  rested  here  and  there  in  temporary 
position. 

Every  student  this  session  had  great  expectation  of  our 
boating  crew,  for  we  had  followed  in  a  measure  the  gallant 
four  in  their  daily  training — that  prescribed  in  the  gymnasium, 
on  the  path  and  at  the  oar — and  felt  convinced  if  honest  effort 
and  well-seasoned  muscle  meant  anything  it  was  soon  to  have 
a  creditable  manifestation.  It  was  our  first  attempt  at  gaining 
laurels  on  the  high-sea,  and  thus  knowing  our  honor  bearers 
we  believed  they  would  bring  new  distinction  to  the  Univer- 
sity. While,  as  usual,  many  of  our  number  returned  to  their 
homes  several  weeks  before  Commencement,  yet  the  great 
majority  of  those  remaining  were  interested  sufficiently  in  the 
cause  and  crew  to  accompany  the  latter  to  Lynchburg,  the 
scene  of  contest.  Although  an  excursion  train  was  scheduled  to 
leave  Charlottesville  on  Saturday  morning,  June  3Oth,  and  re- 
turn the  same  day  after  the  race,  many  of  us  preferred  to  make 
the  downward  trip  Friday  afternoon  on  the  regular  southern 
train  from  Washington,  especially  as  the  railroad  management 


364  UNIVERSITY    OF   VIRGINIA 

had  side-tracked  a  couple  of  cars  for  such  a  contingency.  Our 
party  was  rather  numerous,  consisting  not  only  of  students  but 
their  lady  friends  chaperoned  by  matronly  ladies,  all  grouping 
themselves  in  the  cars  according  to  most  congenial  companion- 
ship, fully  alive  to  the  fact  that  it  was  a  lark  in  support  of  our 
University  colors,  and  that  we  were  to  enjoy  several  days  to- 
gether at  hotels  or  the  homes  of  mutual  friends.  Senator  and 
Mrs.  Daniel  who  had  been  with  us  several  days,  he  having 
delivered  the  Joint  Address,  returned  home  in  our  car,  and 
others  were  along  with  sober  and  settled  tastes,  but  all  seemed 
in  the  spirit  of  youth — possibly  through  propinquity  or  the 
imbibition  of  sparkling  vivacity — and  repressed  not  in  the 
slightest  the  gush  of  enjoyment.  The  day  was  beautiful — 
clear  and  hot — as  were  those  that  immediately  followed,  so  in 
spite  of  the  pleasures  of  the  hour  we  all  were  right  glad  to 
reach,  shortly  after  4  o'ck,  our  destination  when  a  refreshing 
bath  and  a  change  of  linen  could  be  indulged.  Most  of  us 
stopped  at  the  Norvell  House  where  our  University  contingent 
of  boys  and  girls  spent  delightfully  the  two  days  as  one  happy 
family.  The  first  night  and  next  morning  passed  too  quickly 
in  visiting,  seeing  that  hilly  town's  various  points  of  interest 
and  making  arrangements  to  attend  the  race  in  the  afternoon. 
A  canal  boat  took  us  up  the  river  about  2  o'ck,  to  the  grand 
stand  erected  on  the  southern  bank  near  the  beginning  of  the 
race  course,  where  we  accepted  positions  of  advantage  as  best 
we  could.  To  most  of  us  the  view  was  perfect,  the  start  satis- 
factory, and  as  the  crews  passed  us  on  the  upward  lap  they 
seemed  evenly  matched,  pulling  with  a  firm,  steady  and  de- 
liberate stroke — evidently  reserving  all  spurting  for  the  home- 
ward stretch.  Every  one  seemed  wild  with  excitement,  con- 
taining themselves  with  great  difficulty,  little  conscious  of  any- 
thing save  the  pending  contest  and  result.  The  stake  was 
reached  when  all  eyes  watched  intently  the  turning  in  the  dis- 
tance— some  to  say  beautifully  done,  others,  a  foul — and  soon 
the  prows  seemingly  advanced  side  by  side,  saying  apparently, 
"  all  is  well,"  but  in  reality  a  far  different  story,  for  in  turning 
the  power  exerted  by  our  men  was  so  great  as  to  cause  one  of 
the  sliding  seats  to  slip  its  bearings,  thereby  deadening  its  oc- 
cupant the  rest  of  the  course.  But  onward  they  came  with 
this  complete  breakdown,  the  remaining  three  struggling  as 


Professor  John  Staige  Davis,  A.M.,  M.D.,  at  fifty-two 

1824-1885 

See  page  412 

FACING    564 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  365 

best  they  could,  frightfully  unbalanced — two  on  one  side  pull- 
ing against  one  on  the  other  thereby  taxing  the  coxswain  and 
adding  excessive  resistance — until  near  the  finish,  when,  re- 
linquishing all  hope  and  effort,  they  allowed  themselves  to 
come  limping  along  far  behind  their  competitors  much  to  our 
audible  expressions  of  mortification  and  sorrow.  For  a  brief 
time  we  were  ignorant  of  the  cause  of  defeat,  believing  it  a 
case  of  pure  exhaustion  on  the  part  of  our  crew  and  of  superior 
strength  in  the  winners,  but  when  the  truth  became  known  a 
sentiment  of  disgust  prevailed,  as  virtually  it  was  no  contest 
at  all — only  a  sham  combat  between  the  able  and  disabled,  the 
afflicted  and  well.  And  yet  no  one  censured  our  contestants 
for  claiming  victory,  nor  would  we  have  permitted  them  to 
have  done  otherwise,  but  what  we  wanted  and  expected  was 
an  honest  exhibition  of  training,  skill  and  strength — that 
which  failed  to  be  realized.  "  What  is  one  man's  meat  is 
another's  poison,"  so  the  cause  that  grieved  us  delighted  the 
town-people,  consequently  we  had  to  accept  the  situation  with 
becoming  grace  and  magnanimity.  We  decorated  ourselves 
with  large  and  small  badges  of  black  mourning,  assumed  a 
more  modest  and  quiet  attitude,  and  entered  into  the  gayeties 
offered  as  though  we  were  the  victors.  Everything  was  done 
by  the  citizens  of  Lynchburg  to  make  our  visit  pleasant  while 
our  crew  by  defeat  made  it  all  the  more  memorable.  Sunday 
morning  found  us  more  reconciled  to  the  inevitable  and  with 
a  disposition  to  turn  homeward — that  which  we  did  shortly 
before  noon,  leaving  behind  ineffaceable  pleasure  and  regrets. 


CHAPTER    XIX 
PROFESSORS — PERSONAL  CHARACTERISTICS  AND  TRAITS 

The  Professors— Mr.  Jefferson's  high  ideal;  a  noble  band  of  faithful, 
painstaking  workers,  especially  interested  in  industrious  students  to 
whom  they  extended  social  courtesies;  our  appreciation  of  their 
talents  and  personalities — profound  attention  and  respect  in  class,  etc. 
Charles  S.  Venable — appearance,  dress,  quick  insight  of  students ; 
interviews  and  visits  after  my  University  career;  his  address  in  Balti- 
more. William  E.  Peters — appearance  and  characteristics;  great  in- 
terest in  his  ambitious  students — annoyed  by  stupid  laggards.  Last 
visit  to  him,  April,  1904. 

"  You  know  we  have  all,  from  the  beginning,  considered  the 
high  qualifications  of  our  Professors  as  the  only  means  by 
which  we  could  give  to  our  institution  splendor  and  pre-emi- 
nence over  all  our  sister  seminaries.  The  only  question,  there- 
fore, we  can  ever  ask  ourselves,  as  to  any  candidate,  will  be, 
is  he  the  most  highly  qualified?  The  college  of  Philadelphia 
has  lost  its  character  of  primacy  by  indulging  motives  of  fav- 
oritism and  nepotism,  and  by  conferring  the  appointments  as 
if  the  professorships  were  entrusted  to  them  as  provisions  for 
their  friends.  And  even  that  of  Edinburgh,  you  know,  is 
also  much  lowered  from  the  same  cause.  We  are  next  to  ob- 
serve, that  a  man  is  not  qualified  for  a  Professor  knowing 
nothing  but  his  own  profession.  He  should  be  otherwise  well 
educated  as  to  the  sciences  generally;  able  to  converse  under- 
standingly  with  the  scientific  men  with  whom  he  is  associated, 
and  to  assist  in  the  councils  of  the  Faculty  on  any  subject  of 
science  on  which  they  may  have  occasion  to  deliberate.  With- 
out this  he  will  incur  their  contempt  and  bring  disreputation 
on  the  institution."  Thus  wrote  Mr.  Jefferson  to  Cabell, 
February  3,  1824,  a  year  before  the  University  opened. 

Passing  over  the  brilliant  array  that  prior  to  my  day  held  in 
hand  the  destiny  of  the  University,  according  to  this  high  ideal 
of  Mr.  Jefferson,  I  approach  with  a  respect  most  profound  that 
noble  band  of  faithful  teachers  I  personally  found  in  command 
— those  that  impressed  and  taught  me  facts  as  well  as  prin- 

366 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  367 

ciples  which  have  served  as  useful  guides  throughout  my  life. 
Yet  with  this  pleasurable  task  there  is  associated  intuitively  a 
slight  but  certain  hesitation,  since  it  enforces  to  a  degree  an 
undue  liberty  with  the  personalities  of  the  minority  that  live, 
as  well  as  an  inadequate  tribute  to  the  majority  that  sleep. 
To  both  in  life  such  estimation  from  pupils  would  no  doubt  in 
a  measure  prove  distasteful,  but  towards  only  the  helpless,  if 
need  be,  should  protection  be  extended.  A  third  of  a  century 
has  not  effaced  in  the  least  their  earlier  impressions  upon  the 
youth,  as  to-day  they  stand  out  precisely  where  we  left  them — 
the  embodiment  of  wisdom  and  knowledge,  the  students' 
exemplar  and  guide,  the  possessors  of  ever  helpful  and  willing 
counsel  for  all  those  entrusted  to  their  care.  Some  were 
known  only  during  my  university  life,  others  have  been  seen 
occasionally  at  long  intervals,  gradually  growing  old  as  I  have 
been  growing  older,  but  to  them  all  remain  in  strongest  light 
the  simple  personal  contact  of  student  days. 

The  Faculty  of  that  period  consisted  of  fifteen  members, 
each  an  active,  healthy,  enthusiastic  and  inspiring  leader  in  his 
department — all  competent  masters  of  the  ground  they  trod. 
For  it  those  of  other  institutions  entertained  the  highest  re- 
gard and  respect,  since  they  recognized  it  to  be  composed  of 
the  broadest-typed  scholarly  men — such  as  were  too  mag- 
nanimous to  be  interested  in,  or  laboring  for  other  than  the 
general  good.  In  the  South  it  was  accepted  to  be  the  center 
of  higher  thought  and  knowledge,  especially  learned  and  fitted 
for  training  those  who  were  to  occupy  honorably  the  leading 
professional  and  professorial  positions.  This  flattering  rec- 
ognition of  our  Faculty,  be  it  to  its  credit,  did  not  cause  an 
assumption  of  stately  arrogance,  but  on  the  contrary  rather  a 
courtly  humility — that  so  well  calculated  to  inspire  an  abiding 
faith  in  the  honest  desire  to  serve  others  without  stint  or  favor 
in  the  hour  of  need,  and  never  to  abuse  knowingly  a  reposed 
confidence.  Here  truly  the  comity  of  interest  and  intentions 
seemed  centered  and  complete,  ever  void  of  jar  and  friction, 
in  consequence  of  which,  whenever  any  teaching  corps  became 
depleted  by  death  or  resignation,  it  was  chiefly  to  the  Univer- 
sity and  her  well-trained  sons  that  the  eyes  of  those  interested 
were  turned,  in  the  hope  of  finding  a  solution  in  some  suitable 
personage. 


368  UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA 

Most  of  its  members  were  in  their  forties,  several  just  be- 
yond; none  youthful,  only  two  or  three  whom  we  considered 
advanced — a  commendable  quality  in  our  young  eyes,  as  these, 
somehow  or  another,  were  accepted  to  be  the  most  learned  and 
distinguished  teachers — so  that  as  a  capable  teaching  body  we 
regarded  it  with  scarcely  an  equal  in  our  land,  certainly  with- 
out a  superior.  As  a  fact  we  recognized  that  a  few  of  the 
higher  institutions  had  one  or  more  equal  shining  lights,  but 
we  felt  convinced  of  our  superior  numbers — proud  that  no 
other  was  so  fortunate  when  considering  all  departments. 
This  sentiment  was  so  strong  that  it  made  some  of  us  intol- 
lerant  of  others'  views  which  differed  from  or  tended  in  the 
least  to  make  our  Faculty  suffer  by  comparison,  even  though 
we  bore  in  mind  times  when  we  thought  this  or  that  professor 
made  his  exactions  and  requirements  unnecessarily  severe,  in- 
deed, tempered  with  little  mercy.  At  the  same  time  we  be- 
lieved that  they  dispensed  to  all  concerned  justice  as  they  saw, 
read  and  interpreted  it,  and  as  a  result  I  never  heard  of  any 
student  upon  failing  in  examination,  be  it  ever  so  dependent 
and  vital,  visiting  the  professor  of  that  department  for  the  pur- 
pose of  giving  some  elucidation  and  explanation  that  might 
possibly  help  his  cause,  or  with  even  the  request  of  re-reading 
the  paper,  alone  or  together.  No  more  would  this  have  been 
resorted  to  than  would  an  attorney  appeal  to  a  judge  after  his 
rendering  an  adverse  decision.  When  the  lists  were  posted 
from  time  to  time  and  our  names  failed  to  appear  we  accepted 
the  situation  manfully — without  repining,  with  no  reproach  to 
others  and  very  little  censure  to  ourselves.  Under  the  exist- 
ing conditions  we  knew  whether  or  not  we  had  done  our  best, 
our  whole  duty  towards  any  given  course  during  the  year — 
for  nothing  less  would  pass  us  successfully — and  generally  we 
could  size  up  our  attainments  in  the  respective  subjects  suffi- 
ciently well  to  predict  final  results,  consequently  placed  crit- 
icism, if  any  was  needed,  exactly  where  it  belonged — upon 
self.  Even  when  inclined  to  accord  ourselves  passing  credit 
we  did  not  wish  that  unless  our  teachers,  after  a  careful  weigh- 
ing in  the  balance,  adjudged  us  thoroughly  deserving.  For 
what  was  a  diploma  without  its  sine  qua  non — knowledge — 
except  a  lamentable  mockery,  a  deception  upon  its  face — that 
for  which  we  had  little  tolerance,  and  from  which  we  were 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  369 

struggling  to  make  an  honest  escape.  Among  us  there  was 
not  the  slightest  disgrace  attached  to  failing,  because  sooner  or 
later  the  majority  did  this  somewhere  along  the  line  and  ac- 
cepted it  simply  as  indicating  deficient  knowledge  in  the  partic- 
ular department — the  need  of  adding  more  thereto  by  taking 
it  over.  Nothing  savoring  of  unfairness  was  ever  ascribed 
to  the  professors,  as  we  considered  them  nearly  infallible,  in- 
capable of  doing  any  one  of  us  a  wrong,  the  impartial  censors 
and  judges  in  assigning  indisputable  ratings,  and  whether  we 
passed  or  failed  there  was  manifest  rarely  any  dissatisfaction, 
far  less  resentment,  on  the  part  of  the  students,  while  the  pro- 
fessors faced  their  decisions  manfully,  yet  sorrowfully  in  our 
temporary  misfortune — which  they  considered  small  and  cap- 
able of  easy  correction  in  a  subsequent  year,  possibly  redound- 
ing to  an  ultimate  good. 

No  doubt  every  one  is  made  a  stronger  individual  by  an 
occasional  adversity,  experiences  from  misdirected  effort,  as 
they  usually  teach  a  wholesome  lesson  that  otherwise  would 
remain  untaught — to  be  alert  in  anticipating  and  avoiding  pit- 
falls through  the  exercise  of  our  best  energies  at  the  right 
time.  While  the  smooth  and  level  road  ever  continuous,  brings 
passive  satisfaction  ending  in  ennui;  yet  the  rugged  and 
slightly  used  leaves  a  more  permanent  mental  impression  and 
better  circulation  upon  those  needing  physical  development. 
If  students  along  with  all  humanity  would  accept  the  good  that 
a  failure  holds  out  they  would  not  look  at  it  askant — with  a 
certain  degree  of  despondency,  possibly  an  irreparable  loss. 
Fortunately  most  of  us  made  the  best  of  accidental  failure — 
considering  it  a  happy  warning  against  laziness  and  the  under- 
taking of  too  much  in  a  given  time — and  never  in  the  least  was 
intimidated  by  it  in  completing  our  proposed  university  course 
or  in  striving  for  success  in  the  more  strenuous  walks  of  life. 

The  professors  accepted  us  socially  on  a  common  footing 
through  direct  or  indirect  acquaintance,  personal  letters,  cor- 
rect deportment,  inferred  kindly  nature  or  class  standing,  and 
whenever  we  called  at  their  homes  any  slight  embarrassment 
on  our  part  was  quickly  relieved  by  them  laughingly  engaging 
conversation  upon  some  subject  having  a  common  or  local  in- 
terest. While  they  inclined  to  keep  class  burdens  apart  from 
such  occasions,  yet  sometimes  reference  was  made  to  them  but 


370          •      UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA 

always  with  added  words  of  counsel  and  encouragement.  At 
evenings  when  time  afforded,  and  that  was  seldom,  we  visited 
their  wives,  daughters  and  such  lady  friends  from  a  distance 
as  were  being  entertained  by  them  for  one  or  more  weeks — 
there  always  being  a  few  of  these  domiciled  somewhere  within 
the  University  precinct.  Some  time  during  these  two-hour 
calls  the  professor  would  make  his  appearance,  at  least  for  a 
short  spell,  and  thereafter  excuse  himself  on  the  plea  of  having 
work  and  troubles  of  his  own  to  solve.  This  tended  to  make 
us  regard  the  professors  just  as  we  did  other  human  beings  of 
phenomenal  talents  and  educational  position — not  with  a  de- 
gree of  austereness  or  frigidity  so  calculated  to  interrupt  that 
feeling  of  confidence  and  reliance  absolutely  essential  for  the 
students'  best  advancement.  In  the  class-room  much  of  the 
same  goodly  feeling  existed,  although  both  the  teacher  and  the 
taught  fully  realized  this  to  be  a  thoroughly  business  place. 
In  the  languages,  laboratories  and  mathematics  contact  with 
the  professors  was  most  intimate,  as  during  each  recitation  and 
experimental  session  many  of  the  studious  members  were 
singled  out  to  make  difficult  explanations.  In  the  sciences 
where  theories  were  taught  by  lectures  as  well  as  by  personal 
experiments  the  atmosphere  was  more  formal.  Those  un- 
familiar with  the  existing  conditions  could  scarcely  imagine 
the  attention  and  respect  accorded  at  all  times  when  under 
instruction — nothing  less  than  that  so  universal  in  churches 
on  the  Sabbath.  Rarely  was  a  whisper  or  a  noisy  movement 
heard  during  the  entire  class-period,  even  the  assembling  and 
dissembling  was  conducted  with  perfect  order  and  dignity. 
We  sat  through  lectures  as  though  spellbound,  and  when  some- 
one thoughtlessly  punctuated  the  nearing  end  with  a  deep 
respiration  it  met  with  disapproval  and  served  to  interrupt 
very  little  the  undivided  attention  of  the  many.  Every  one 
was  the  busiest  individual  unto  himself,  catching  and  recording 
into  note-books  the  professor's  thoughts  and  explanations,  and 
for  the  best  accomplishment  of  this  the  strictest  silence  had  to 
reign.  A  more  faithful  set  of  note-takers  never  existed,  as 
each  student  considered  it  necessary  to  record  every  fact 
enunciated  by  the  professors  and  strove  to  acquire  a  degree  of 
proficiency  as  early  as  possible.  Those  writing  well  and  fast 
did  so  with  pen  and  ink  direct  into  strongly  bound  note-books 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  371 

of  stereotyped  size,  nine  by  twelve  inches  and  containing  2-4-6 
quires  of  good  quality  ruled  paper,  while  those  less  fortunate 
took  down  in  class  with  pencil,  as  best  they  could,  into  cheaper 
and  smaller  books,  and  shortly  afterwards  made  therefrom  in 
their  rooms  a  pen  and  ink  copy  into  the  better  style  of  books, 
adding  such  matter  as  memory  correctly  carried. 

A  good  note-taker  was  usually  popular  as  his  talents  pro- 
duced worthy  products — books  in  demand  by  class-mates  bor- 
rowing them  for  either  comparison  or  absolute  copying — and 
while  every  one  was  careful  not  to  abuse  this  privilege,  lest  he 
be  considered  an  impostor  or  bore — short  of  the  gentleman — 
yet  it  was  availed  of  especially  by  those  missing  an  occasional 
lecture  through  sickness  or  unavoidable  detention  elsewhere. 

The  necessity  of  note-books  and  rapid  note-taking  grew  out 
of  the  fact  that  few  of  the  professors  in  those  days  were 
authors  of  text-books,  and  when  recommending  those  written 
by  others — chiefly  Englishmen — so  added  to,  changed  or  de- 
parted from  the  contents  as  often  to  challenge  recognition. 
As  a  result  we  soon  learned  that  the  professors  stood  masters 
of  knowledge  in  their  departments,  imparting  in  class  most  of 
the  essential  material  for  graduation,  and  were  not  slow  in 
realizing  the  necessity  of  possessing  this  in  some  tangible  form 
for  future  reference — to  lessen  the  bitter  sting  of  preparing 
for  examinations.  It  was  no  wonder,  therefore,  that  we  came 
to  place  the  greatest  confidence  in  a  complete  set  of  notes — 
not  those  taken  by  others  in  previous  years  but  those  having 
the  spark  of  one's  own  vitality  through  self-compilation  from 
lectures  individually  attended.  Indeed,  one's  ability  to  record 
acceptable  notes  brought  a  kind  of  assurance,  comfort  and  reli- 
ance in  ultimate  success  at  examinations  and  consequently  in 
graduating  in  the  departments  desired. 

The  professors  recognized  obviously  that  while  text-books 
told  the  truth  they  did  not  always  tell  the  whole  truth,  and  it 
was  the  few  last  drops  of  the  cocoanut-milk  they  often  consid- 
ered so  important  for  their  students — an  attitude  very  laudable 
to  assume  but  one  quite  susceptible  of  over-indulgement.  Most 
of  them  were  thoroughly  zealous  in  furthering  the  mental 
development  and  progress  of  their  students,  resorting  to  many 
extremes  to  stimulate,  encourage  and  elicit  co-operation.  I 
remember  one  day  answering  "  Unprepared  "  when  called  upon 


372  UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA 

by  Professor  Peters  to  recite,  whereupon  his  whole  manner 
visibly  changed — as  though  he  had  another  grief  to  bear — and 
as  the  bell  rang  out  the  hour  he  boldly  announced  his  desire  to 
see  me.  As  the  others  filed  down  the  center  aisle  I  marched 
up  to  his  desk  at  the  window  on  the  platform,  whereupon  he 
expressed  sorrow  and  inquired  the  cause  of  my  lack  of  prepara- 
tion. Upon  telling  him  a  forced  absence  from  the  University 
the  previous  day  had  prevented  me  giving  that  hour's  subjects 
proper  study  and  expressing  a  willingness  to  stand  chances 
of  being  called  upon  with  negative  results  rather  than  miss  the 
lecture,  he  became  somewhat  reconciled  but  did  not  omit  the 
concluding  appeal — try  and  not  let  it  occur  again — which  I  ac- 
cepted as  a  partial  command  and  knew  better  than  to  violate 
provided  I  wished  to  retain  his  favorable  opinion. 

The  chief  thing  needed  in  any  student  was  to  evince  signs 
of  comprehension — desire  to  learn — then  one  could  rest  as- 
sured of  suffering  nowhere  any  neglect.  The  professors,  how- 
ever, were  only  human  and  naturally  lost  patience  sometimes 
in  their  efforts  at  well-doing,  because  there  were  always  a  few 
drones ;  some  indeed  delighting  more  in  social  than  in  student 
life  as  they  regarded  the  literary  atmosphere  and  association 
a  compensating  return  for  time  expended;  others  starting  out 
brilliantly — studiously — would  gradually  become  tired  and  dis- 
couraged only  to  lapse  into  innocuous  desuetude,  while  others 
would  be  handicapped  seriously  by  weeks  of  sickness.  All 
such  were  looked  after  faithfully,  with  the  same  persistent 
care,  until  the  student's  indifference  was  recognized  as  inten- 
tionally wanton,  when  the  professors'  interest  would  wane,  re- 
sulting in  a  seldom  call  for  recitation — an  easy  escape  all 
around  from  embarrassment — but  never  omitted  from  roll-call 
as  this  gave  a  record  of  attendance,  that  which  was  imperative 
in  order  to  avoid  a  request  for  withdrawal  or  final  expulsion. 

The  professors'  individual  characters,  sincere,  honest  pur- 
pose, interest  in  us  and  what  they  taught,  their  daily  lives  as 
gleaned  from  continued  intercourse  and  observation,  engen- 
dered, as  it  should,  a  kind  of  magnetism  in  us,  an  ambition  to- 
wards emulation — that  which  we  felt  near  impossible  to  realize 
in  its  fullness,  but  even  in  a  partial  degree  a  most  worthy 
possession.  I  sometimes  question,  which  in  a  university  train- 
ing counts  for  more — the  restricted  learning  from  the  educa- 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  373 

tional  lectures  and  books,  or  the  more  liberal  learning,  culture, 
from  the  educational  society  and  atmosphere?  When  both 
are  of  the  highest  type  it  is  by  no  means  certain  which  conduces 
towards  better  development  or  claims  the  strongest  gratitude. 
It  is  easy  enough  to  possess  the  best  text-books — those  com- 
piled by  most  knowing,  practical  and  conscientious  scholars, 
but  it  is  far  more  difficult  to  find  the  most  ennobling  manhood 
in  professors,  subjects  as  they  are  to  worldly  temptation  and 
vice,  from  whom  the  impressive  example  must  emanate  for  in- 
spiring the  young  towards  good  or  evil.  Those  at  the  Univer- 
sity in  the  seventies  could  well  boast  of  a  professorial  associa- 
tion of  unusual  distinction,  morally  and  intellectually,  for  they 
certainly  so  let  their  light  shine  that  it  continues  yet  to  illumine 
the  pathway  of  thousands,  who  without  that  personal  contact, 
influence  and  inspiration  would  now  be  stumbling  half  blindly 
or  grappling  slowly  in  the  dark. 

CHARLES  SCOTT  VENABLE — This  kind  paternal  gentleman 
was  the  first  professor  I  met  upon  reaching  the  University — 
he  being  the  head  of  the  mathematical  department  and  Chair- 
man of  the  Faculty — an  incident  to  which  sufficient  allusion 
has  already  been  made.  From  his  serious,  thoughtful  and  re- 
flective bearing  he  appeared  to  me  at  least  fifty  years  of  age, 
although  that  mile-stone  was  not  passed  until  my  last  session, 
April  19,  1877.  He  was  the  only  member  of  the  Faculty 
that  inclined  to  be  corpulent,  but  this  was  not  to  the  extent 
of  interfering  in  any  way  with  his  active  disposition  or 
physical  demands.  He  had  practically  a  height  of  six  feet 
and  a  weight  of  two  hundred  and  twenty  pounds,  being  built 
strongly  and  compactly — broad  thick  shoulders,  deep  full  chest, 
slightly  protruding  abdomen,  well-developed  extremities; 
rather  large  face  of  the  roundish  type  covered  mostly  with 
heavy  brownish-black  beard  and  moustache,  the  former  worn 
after  the  style,  but  slightly  longer,  of  our  then  President,  Gen- 
eral Grant.  His  head  was  well-proportioned  and  covered 
with  a  fine  suit  of  brownish-black  hair  at  times  allowed  a 
trifle  long;  forehead  broad  and  bold;  nose  shapely  and  of 
proper  size;  eyes  bright,  clear  and  bluish;  voice  deep  but  a 
little  thickish,  yet  penetrating  and  sonorous;  manners  easy, 
affable,  genial  and  sunshiny — filled  with  smiles  and  audible 


374  UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA 

laughter  when  occasion  demanded,  the  kind  indicating  thor- 
ough enjoyment,  that  which  no  one  can  ever  forget  having 
experienced  its  ring  and  heartiness;  step  firm,  rather  quick 
and  elastic,  serving  well  to  cover  distance  speedily.  He  was 
easy  of  approach,  seemingly  appealed  for  recognition  from 
even  the  stranger,  and  yet  never  lost  a  manly,  dignified  and 
inspiring  address.  He  was  a  little  careless  or  non-conventional 
in  dress,  wearing  usually  sack  coats,  turned-down  collars, 
simple-tied  black  cravats,  broad-toed  roomy  shoes,  broad- 
brimmed  felt  or  straw  hats — I  do  not  remember  ever  seeing 
him  in  a  derby  or  tile — but  his  linen  was  always  immaculate. 
He  was  generous  with  his  knowledge,  delighting  to  impart  it 
to  the  earnest  and  needy  in  and  out  of  season;  he  was  a  free- 
giver  at  all  times  of  wholesome  advice,  such  as  benefited  alike 
the  student,  the  friend,  the  stranger;  he  was  keenly  sensitive 
and  considerate  for  the  deficiencies  of  others,  never  repri- 
manding so  as  to  wound  feelings;  he  read  quickly  human 
nature  and  character,  so  that  it  was  not  difficult  for  him  to 
gage  by  short  contact  the  caliber  of  those  he  taught — a  quality 
of  advantage  to  him  and  a  blessing  to  his  students  when  as- 
signing problems  to  any  half-dozen  of  them  at  the  black- 
boards, as  here  the  contingent  that  possessed  inferential  and 
deductive  minds  had  to  pay  the  penalty  of  superior  endow- 
ments by  receiving  from  him  theorems  and  riders  taxing  their 
utmost  capacity,  while  the  less  favored  by  nature  were  given 
usually  something  from  the  text,  wherein  partial  or  complete 
solutions  could  be  found.  This  intuition  frequently  converted 
a  "  cork  "  into  a  "  curl/'  produced  untold  satisfaction,  stim- 
ulated the  sluggish  to  work  as  best  they  could — but  never  to 
graduate — and  in  all  prevented  signs  of  discouragement.  Al- 
though recognizing  thoroughly  that  many  had  very  ordinary 
mathematical  minds,  he  chided  them  not  in  the  least  for  that, 
nor  thought  less  of  them  so  long  as  they  were  good  at  some- 
thing else — for  of  their  general  record,  especially  while  Chair- 
man, he  kept  well  advised.  I  was  only  under  him  my  first 
year,  but  he  never  lost  sight  of  me  or  my  work.  Indeed,  his 
relative,  Carrington,  who  boarded  with  him  and  became  one 
of  my  intimate  friends,  conveyed  now  and  then  throughout 
my  second  year  pleasant  tidings — his  delight  at  seeing  my 
very  satisfactory  progress  in  Latin,  etc.,  as  gleaned,  I  inferred, 


Professor  James  I,.  Cahell,  L,I}.D.,  at  sixty-one 
1813-1889 

See  page  416 


FACING  374 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  375 

from  the  monthly  reports  passing  under  his  inspection.  In 
class-room,  second  floor  of  Rotunda,  to  the  left  (west),  Pro- 
fessor Venable  was  always  quiet  and  meditative,  never  excited 
or  irritated.  The  first  few  lectures  after  his  wife's  death 
were  conducted  by  his  assistant,  Mr.  Thornton,  but  thereafter 
he  appeared  regularly,  more  or  less  depressed — visibly  en- 
deavoring to  conceal  beyond  recognition  his  mental  troubles. 
He  kept  himself  busy  and  also  those  under  him,  and  never 
hesitated  to  tell  us  the  necessity  of  putting  more  work  upon 
that  in  which  he  found  weakness — always  in  a  spirit  of  kind- 
ness, however,  far  from  any  dogmatic  edicts. 

At  his  home  on  Monroe  Hill  he  extended  to  all  visitors  that 
simple  and  sincere  hospitality  so  characteristic  of  his  generous^ 
nature.  On  the  highway  and  elsewhere  he  passed  no  one 
without  giving  signs  of  recognition,  usually  calling  your  name 
distinctly  without  hesitation,  often  with  a  halt,  shake  of  the 
hand  and  the  inquiry:  How  are  you  getting  along  with  your 
work?  I  shall  never  forget  witnessing  as  we  all  stood  that 
disagreeable  afternoon  by  the  side  of  his  first  wife's  grave,  at 
a  moment  of  most  trying  mental  anguish  and  torture  to  him, 
a  manifestation  of  that  never  failing  fatherly  tenderness,  when, 
with  a  daughter  cuddled  under  each  arm,  the  son,  Frank,  oc- 
cupying next  position,  he  slowly  lifted  the  younger  from  the 
wet  muddy  earth  and  placed  her  little  feet  upon  the  arch  of  his 
goodly  proportioned  right  foot,  there  to  remain  standing 
through  the  interment  service,  thus  removing  her  as  far  as 
within  his  power  from  the  ravages  of  exposure.  And  so  he 
lived — ever  thoughtful  of  his  own,  never  thoughtless  of  others. 

Much  to  all  me  students'  regret  he  resigned  the  Chairman- 
ship of  the  Faculty  at  the  end  of  my  first  session,  June,  1873; 
consequently  on  Commencement  Day,  July  3rd,  when  confer- 
ring the  last  few  diplomas  the  Hall  resounded  his  name  from 
many  voices,  and  true  to  the  call  he  stepped  forward  and  gave 
among  others  these  inspiring  sentences :  "  I  sincerely  hope 
that  these  laurels  may  never  fade,  and  that  you  graduates  will 
not  strive  alone  to  write  on  your  banners  that  low  idea,  *  Suc- 
cess in  life,'  but  will  go  forth  with  truth,  honor  and  duty  writ- 
ten on  your  flags  and  in  your  hearts,  having  as  one  motive  in 
life  to  walk  the  path  of  truth,  and  the  one  guiding  star  to  direct 
you  through  life  and  to  the  port  of  peace.  In  laying  aside  the 


376  UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA 

office  of  Chairman  of  the  Faculty  I  desire  to  thank  the  students 
for  the  high  sense  of  honor  they  have  shown  for  me,  and  for 
their  courteous  bearing  in  all  their  intercourse  with  me,  and 
I  can  do  no  more  than  express  the  perfect  confidence  that  you 
will  extend  the  same  in  your  future  relationship  with  my  hon- 
ored colleague,  Dr.  James  F.  Harrison,  who  is  to  be  my  suc- 
cessor. I  can  say  in  no  formal  way,  but  from  the  heart, 
'  Farewell,  God  bless  you/  ' 

We  all  felt  it  was  chiefly  the  declining  health  of  his  wife 
that  necessitated  this  resignation,  and  hoped  for  his  speedy 
return  to  the  helm  of  the  University — that  which  he  did,  but 
only  for  two  years,  a  decade  later. 

After  completing  my  University  course,  still  retaining 
friendly  relationship  with  a  number  of  students,  clubmates 
and  families  within  the  University  circle,  I  returned  to  the 
Commencements  of  1879  and  1881,  and  then  enjoyed  talks 
with  various  members  of  the  Faculty,  including  Professor 
Venable.  In  1888  he  spent  several  days  in  Baltimore,  stop- 
ping with  his  life-long  friend  and  war-time  companion,  Colonel 
Charles  Marshall.  The  occasion  of  this  visit  was  to  deliver 
the  annual  address  before  "  The  Maryland  Line  " — those  hav- 
ing been  in  the  Confederate  service — which  took  place  at  the 
Lyceum  Theater,  in  the  presence  of  a  large  and  deeply  inter- 
ested audience.  In  preparation  and  delivery  I  did  not  think 
Professor  Venable  reflected  laudable  credit  upon  himself,  as 
he  recalled  now  and  then  the  precise  position  and  doings  of 
certain  commands,  which  must  have  left  in  the  minds  of  some 
a  little  uncertainness  in  events  and  facts  as  even  related  by  an 
eye  witness.  Indeed,  was  convincing  that  the  lapse  of  twenty 
years  suffice  to  efface  mental  accuracy  of  details  unless  they 
are  studied  over,  worked  out  and  reduced  to  definite  writing. 
At  that  reunion  General  Wade  Hampton  and  Hon.  C.  R. 
Breckinridge  were  present,  while  General  Bradley  T.  Johns- 
ton introduced  Colonel  Venable  as  a  member  of  General  Lee's 
staff  at  the  surrender  of  Appomattox,  and  at  the  then  present 
a  professor  in  the  University  of  Virginia,  therefore  eminently 
fitted  for  the  subject  he  was  to  discuss,  "  From  Appomattox 
to  Petersburg,"  the  story  of  the  last  days  of  the  war.  Colonel 
Venable  reviewed  at  length  the  situation  of  the  two  contend- 
ing armies  during  that  final  week — Grant  having  one  hundred 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  377 

and  sixty  thousand  men  against  Lee's  thirty-nine  thousand — 
and  then  continued :  "  Lee  looked  to  a  junction  with  Johns- 
ton across  the  Roanoke  and  tried  to  make  preparations  for 
leaving  the  lines,  either  by  being  forced  or  to  join  Johnston 
and  strike  a  blow  at  Sherman.  But  sad  to  relate  the  desertions 
to  our  army  averaged  one  hundred  a  day — all  brave  men,  yet 
without  sufficient  devotion  to  keep  them  at  the  front  under 
such  existing  conditions.  Lee  even  then  said :  '  If  the  people 
were  in  earnest  they  might  yet  win/  Then  came  the  necessary 
retreat  from  Richmond  and  Petersburg  along  the  south  and 
north  banks  of  the  Appomattox ;  the  misfortune  of  the  wagon 
train  falling  into  the  hands  of  the  enemy,  but  happily  rescued 
by  Fitz.  Lee's  cavalry  in  the  handsomest  saber  fight  of  the 
war;  the  disaster  of  Sailor's  creek,  where  we  found  ourselves 
without  artillery  to  answer  artillery,  ours  by  mistake  having 
been  allowed  to  pass  along,  for  which  we  reaped  untold  criti- 
cism. But  it  was  a  question  of  minutes  and  not  of  hours. 
When  such  men  as  Ewell,  Kershaw  and  a  Lee  surrendered, 
the  time  for  surrender  had  come.  It  was  Lee's  endeavor  to 
reach  Farmville  thus  bringing  the  troops  to  the  Cumberland 
hills,  but  failing  to  burn  the  bridge  across  the  Appomattox 
after  passing  over  it  allowed  the  enemy  to  seize  and  use  it  to 
our  disadvantage  in  reaching  Appomattox  Court  House.  On- 
ward we  marched  to  Lynchburg,  where  was  found  in  its  de- 
fence three  or  four  batteries  of  artillery.  There  we  may  say 
was  the  last  battle  of  the  Army  of  Northern  Virginia.  The 
men  immortalized  themselves,  but  were  overwhelmed,  sup- 
pressed by  numbers.  Lee  slept  that  night  on  a  hill  a  mile  from 
Appomattox  Court  House,  and  asked  me  for  a  light  by  which 
to  read  Grant's  letter  from  Farmville.  I  was  shocked.  I 
thought  no  one  would  have  dared  to  ask  the  surrender  of 
that  army.  I  went  off  to  sleep  and  I  am  glad  I  was  not  at 
the  council  of  war.  I  will  give  one  or  two  pictures  to  illus- 
trate the  grand  character  of  our  commander.  He  said :  '  I 
must  go  to  see  Grant,  but  I  would  rather  die  a  thousand 
deaths.'  He  was  thoughtful  of  others  in  the  midst  of  the  great 
disaster.  He  told  me  to  get  my  parole  and  go  home  to  my 
family,  and  send  word  to  President  Davis.  He  knew  that  the 
Confederacy  consisted  of  his  army  and  that  of  Johnston's, 
and  that  there  was  no  Confederacy  if  they  could  not  be  united. 


378  UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA 

Then  came  the  thought  of  home  and  family,  of  the  children 
who  did  not  know  you,  of  the  wife  left  behind  so  long,  the 
idea  that  there  would  be  peace;  we  went  home.  There  was 
peace,  but  in  it  a  great  deal  of  bad  blood  and  bayonets.  It 
was  such  a  peace  as  one  brother  having  another  by  the  throat 
and  lecturing  him.  We  went  home  to  obey  Lee.  After  a 
lapse  of  a  quarter  of  a  century  I  hope  another  peace  is  com- 
ing." 

My  last  interview  with  Professor  Venable  was  in  Septem- 
ber, 1894,  when  my  wife  and  self  called  at  his  University 
home,  fourth  pavilion  from  the  Rotunda,  East  Lawn,  occupied 
in  my  day  by  Dr.  John  Staige  Davis.  Here  we  had  a  very 
pleasant  hour's  talk  upon  University  matters,  educational  sub- 
jects and  portions  of  his  service  in  the  war — the  latter  being 
near  and  dear  to  him,  and  equally  interesting  to  me,  as  it  in- 
cluded personal  experiences  and  characteristics  of  his  great 
commander,  General  Lee.  His  mind,  however,  reverted  sev- 
eral times  to  his  physical  infirmities  and  decline,  especially  that 
of  one  eye,  whose  sight  was  much  impared  owing  solely,  he 
thought,  to  wartime  exposure.  This  he  pathetically  affirmed, 
defied  all  medical  treatment  and  would  in  all  probability  neces- 
sitate in  the  near  future  his  retirement  from  active  service  as 
a  teacher.  While  his  stately  form  and  outline  had  changed 
little  by  time,  except  in  visible  wrinkles  and  silvered  strands, 
yet  it  was  sad  to  realize  that  powerful  physique  and  frame 
weakening  under  the  ravages  of  years  and  pain — that  beyond 
which  he  realized  the  help  of  fellow  man  was  without  avail. 
With  it  all,  however,  he  still  remained  that  same  sincere,  genial 
gentleman,  safe  and  wise  counselor  as  of  former  years — quali- 
ties that  endeared  him  to  every  student  and  entitled  them  to 
use  with  profound  respect  the  sobriquet,  "  Old  Ven,"  or  with 
more  dignity  and  frequency,  "  Colonel  Venable/'  Every 
student  knew  his  military  record  and  delighted  during  social 
visits  to  hear  his  vivid  descriptions  of  various  encounters  and 
personages.  He,  however,  was  no  idle  talker — simply  for 
amusement — but  thought  seriously  and  expressed  himself  de- 
liberately with  justice  and  mercy  to  all.  He  died  August  n, 
1901,  and  was  buried  in  the  University  Cemetery. 

WILLIAM  ELISHA  PETERS — I  was  only  at  the  University 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  379 

three  days  before  meeting  Colonel  Peters — called  more  gen- 
erally but  affectionately  "  Old  Pete  " — in  his  Latin  classroom, 
second  floor  of  the  Rotunda  to  the  right,  opposite  that  used 
for  mathematics.  The  first  hour's  contact  sufficed  to  convince 
me  of  his  seriousness — a  thorough  painstaking  teacher  tol- 
erating nothing  in  class  except  business.  Although  then  only 
forty-three  years  of  age  he  certainly  seemed  to  me  more  than 
middle-aged.  His  height  was  about  five  feet  ten  inches  and 
weight  one  hundred  and  fifty-five  pounds;  walk  erect  and 
graceful  with  a  quick  easy  step ;  eyes  dark  and  penetrating,  of 
normal  size;  hair,  moustache  and  beard  jet  black;  voice  mild, 
clear,  a  little  thin;  nose  of  good  size  and  proportion;  fore- 
head rather  broad  and  full.  He  saw  the  mirthful  and  ludi- 
crous side  as  evidenced  by  an  occasional  smile  or  subdued 
laugh  which  never  ventured  into  absolute  heartiness.  He  was 
partial  to  plain  simple  dress,  but  his  small  shapely  feet  were 
clothed  always  in  neatly  fitting  shoes,  which  in  winter  might 
be  considered  thin,  certainly  affording  much  less  protection 
than  those  worn  by  most  of  us  students.  I  never  saw  him 
wear  rubbers,  that  which  became  a  necessity  to  most  of  us. 
His  manner  was  always  quiet,  thoughtful  and  reflective,  but 
in  class  he  did  not  hesitate  to  reprimand  in  a  few  poignant 
words  whenever  he  considered  them  deserved  and  likely  to  do 
good.  I  distinctly  remember  the  first  gibing  shaft  sent  in  my 
direction  the  second  or  third  week,  when  asking  me  some  rule 
in  grammar  I  concluded  my  supposed  correct  answer  with  the 
words — and  so  forth — whereupon  he  quickly  retorted :  It  may 
be  the  and  so  forth,  but  it  certainly  is  not  the  rest  you  have 
said.  He  was  a  very  literal  but  beautiful  translator  of  Latin, 
rendering  it,  owing  to  his  perfect  knowledge  of  linguistic 
equivalents,  absolutely  smooth  and  satisfactory  without  the 
necessity  of  any  additional  English  words.  Nothing  provoked 
him  more  than  slovenly  translation,  and  explaining  one's  self 
with  the  subterfuge  of  certain  words  being  understood  incited 
his  disgust,  sometimes  with  the  reminder,  "you  understand 
nothing  in  Latin."  When  any  such  blunder  was  perpetrated, 
he  with  a  positive  air  of  disapproval  would  quietly  say :  "  That 
will  do,  sir,"  and  immediately  call  on  him  for  the  case,  tense 
or  point  of  grammar  with  which  liberty  had  unnecessarily  been 
taken,  thereby  disconcerting  the  individual  and  making  a  last- 


380  UNIVERSITY    OF   VIRGINIA 

ing  object  lesson  to  the  entire  class.  In  exercises  he  was 
equally  exacting,  if  possible  more  so,  not  allowing  the  slightest 
paraphrasing  of  his  English,  which  was  not  always  the  best, 
even  though  the  same  sense  and  sentiment  were  preserved. 
He  wrote  for  a  certain  construction  and  point  of  syntax  to  be 
covered  and  nothing  short  of  that  would  satisfy  him.  The 
wrong  use  of  the  infinitive,  subjunctive,  fore  ut,  etc.,  in  the 
final  examination  was  accepted  by  us  as  fatal  to  graduation. 
No  one  who  came  under  him  can  fail  to  recall  his  unyielding 
precision,  and  when  discussing  our  exercises  (composition) 
how  he  would  throw  his  right  hand  around  to  what  he  had  just 
written  on  the  black-board  as  the  best  possible  form,  saying 
with  his  characteristic  smile,  "  But  gentlemen,  this  is  the 
Latin !  "  Nor  can  we  forget  the  promiscuous  use  of  that  long 
pointer,  and  the  abundant  material  he  would  write  daily  upon 
the  black-board  for  us  to  copy — that  which  we  did  as  reli- 
giously as  take  our  daily  food,  both  being  absolutely  essential 
to  live  and  master  the  course.  The  task  of  note-taking,  how- 
ever, was  spared  the  seniors  my  second  year,  when  for  the  first 
time  these  notes  were  printed.  This  was  done  in  Charlottes- 
ville,  and  each  week,  although  the  printers  occasionally  disap- 
pointed, a  single  folder  of  four  pages — the  two  first  numbers 
being  of  smaller  size — was  given  to  the  class.  Of  these  there 
were  thirty-one  numbers,  each  bearing  the  same  title,  "  Senior 
Latin  Class.  Outline  of  Lectures,"  along  with  its  specific 
number.  Unfortunately  they  contained  many  errors,  owing 
to  the  poorly  formed  letters  of  the  Professor  and  imperfect 
proof-reading,  so  that  a  little  of  each  hour  was  consumed  in 
making  necessary  corrections  of  the  part  discussed  and  cov- 
ered. Later  these  "  Notes  "  were  published  in  a  more  credit- 
able form  under  the  editorial  management  of  Professor  W. 
Gordon  McCabe,  Petersburg,  Virginia. 

Somehow  or  another  Professor  Peters  was  always  very 
friendly  to  me,  and  my  monthly  reports  sent  to  parents,  yet 
preserved,  contained  usually  such  pleasant  remarks  as :  "  Do- 
ing well.  Doing  very  well.  Has  much  improved.  A  faithful 
student  and  is  improving.  A  fine  student,  improving  rapidly. 
Improving  rapidly,  is  a  fine  student,  etc."  He,  however,  had 
little  use  for  those  who  did  not  try  to  stand  well  with  him,  and 
very  seldom  called  on  such  after  knowing  their  short-comings. 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  381 

He  had  always  abundant  good  material  in  the  classes  to  answer 
promptly  and  correctly,  in  whom  he  took  the  greatest  pride — 
a  sentiment  he  could  not  avoid  showing  by  kind  and  gentle 
expressions  of  satisfaction  in  and  out  of  class.  As  a  teacher 
he  was  ever  ready  to  help  those  who  would  help  themselves, 
but  there  it  ended.  When  sick  in  the  Infirmary  for  a  few  or 
more  days  he  invariably  came  to  see  me,  sometimes  more  than 
once,  and  after  his  second  marriage  whatever  general  functions 
were  given  by  his  good  wife  I  received  formal  invitation. 

During  my  first  year  he  roomed  at  Professor  Smith's,  but 
in  the  summer  of  1873  he  married  a  sister  of  his  first  wife, 
Miss  Mary  Sheffey,  and  thereafter  occupied  the  McGuffey 
pavilion,  last  or  fifth  from  the  Rotunda,  West  Lawn,  where 
he  remained  up  to  a  short  time  of  his  death.  At  the  little 
office,  south  side  of  his  home,  I  used  to  call  whenever  his 
subject  gave  serious  trouble,  and  there  I  invariably  found  him 
most  willing  to  supply  needed  help.  Sometimes  he  would  in- 
troduce irrelevant  subjects  in  order,  I  dare  say,  to  draw  from 
me  whatever  information  or  ideas  I  happened  to  possess  per- 
tinent thereto ;  again  he  would  simply  inquire :  "  Is  there  no 
other  point  you  wish  cleared?"  If  I  should  say  no,  he  would 
arise  and  impress  the  desire  of  my  calling  whenever  in  need  of 
assistance.  This  I  accepted  to  imply — he  was  busy — that 
I  must  extend  thanks  and  bid  adieu.  I  frequently  found  him 
correcting  exercises  with  a  liberal  use  of  red  ink — a  duty  that 
consumed  not  a  little  of  his  time,  but  one  against  which  I 
never  heard  him  utter  a  complaint,  for  he  considered  that  a 
part  of  his  work  and  conscientiously  performed  it.  My  last 
visit  to  him  was  on  the  afternoon  of  April  15,  1904,  about  a 
year  after  he  had  retired  from  teaching.  I  found  him  pacing 
the  pavement  south  of  his  home,  as  was  his  custom  so  to  use 
his  side  of  the  triangle  in  my  student-day,  and  after  introduc- 
ing myself  he  at  once  insisted  upon  me  spending  an  hour  with 
him  in  the  sitting  room — that  nearest  the  Rotunda — and  there 
in  the  face  of  a  dying  open  fire,  for  it  was  rather  warm  and 
sunny  without,  we  talked  pleasantly  on  various  matters.  His 
wife  was  quite  sick  and  he  more  or  less  apprehensive  for  her 
recovery,  but  he  would  not  listen  to  a  shorter  stay.  He  was 
very  solicitous  of  the  University's  future,  as  it  so  badly  needed 
money,  and  thought  possibly  that  some  Baltimoreans  might 


382  UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA 

reach  Mr.  Morgan  through  his  associate  Mr.  Charles  Steele, 
one  of  our  distinguished  graduates.  We  discussed  the  part 
played  by  the  University  towards  higher  education ;  the  great 
men  she  had  sent  forth  in  various  avenues,  when  he  concluded 
that  such  representatives  as  Hunter,  Dabney  and  Broadus 
were  sufficient  lights  to  establish  forever  a  creditable  record. 
I  referred  to  the  strong  Faculty  I  found  at  the  University  upon 
entering,  affirming  it  "hard  to  beat,"  to  which  he  gave  a 
hearty  assent.  He  alluded  to  his  fondness  for  Gildersleeve, 
and  to  the  separation  being  a  blow  from  which  he  had  never 
recovered — "  for  we  were  so  congenial."  "  I  would  rather  have 
given  him  five  hundred  dollars  a  year,  yes  a  thousand,  from 
my  own  salary  than  to  have  seen  him  leave  us.  I  offered  to 
take  the  revenue  from  our  two  chairs  and  divide  it  equally 
between  us,  but  he  would  not  listen  to  that — he  seemed  pos- 
sessed to  go.  I  wonder  if  he  is  really  as  well  satisfied  or 
better  off  by  the  change.  I  doubt  it."  I  distinctly  remember 
at  the  time  (1876)  hearing  that  Professor  Peters  used  all 
known  persuasion  to  retain  Professor  Gildersleeve,  such  as 
loyalty  to  the  South  and  her  great  University,  the  urgent 
need  therein  of  the  very  best  classical  scholars,  and  that  per- 
sonally the  only  way  he  would  forsake  the  University  would 
be  as  a  dead  body — an  assertion  afterwards  verified.  He  also 
inquired  affectionately  after  Professor  Garnett,  expressing  re- 
gret at  seeing  him  go  from  the  University.  He  enjoyed  not 
a  little  my  repeating  the  conversation  that  took  place  in  the 
Museum  a  few  years  before,  when  my  wife  and  self  were  mak- 
ing a  somewhat  close  inspection  of  certain  specimens,  and  the 
janitor  noticing  the  unusual  interest  came  forth  and  inquired : 
"  Is  you  a  graduate  in  dis  department?  "  Upon  my  answering 
yes,  he  asked :  "  How  long  ago  ?  "  And  when  I  replied  about 
twenty  years,  he  indifferently  remarked :  "It  was  nuffin 
den."  In  reciting  this  circumstance  to  the  Professor,  I 
queried :  "  Of  course  this  implication  holds  good  in  all  depart- 
ments— that  the  requirements  for  graduation  in  my  day  and 
generation  were  nothing  compared  with  those  of  the  present!  " 
He  smiled,  and  ridiculed  the  idea,  saying :  "  I  assigned  the 
same  sets  of  parallel  my  last  ten  as  I  did  my  first  ten  years, 
and  my  course  after  the  first  five  years  has  always  been  prac- 
tically the  same."  During  our  student  days  we  were  ac- 


Professor  James  F.  Harrison,  M.D.,  at  sixty 
1815-1896 

See  page  420 


FACING  382 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  383 

quainted  thoroughly  with  his  brave  war  record,  from  which 
he  was  called  occasionally  "  Fighting  Pete,"  and  above  all 
wondered  at  and  repeated  often  the  Chambersburg  incident — 
when  ordered  by  his  superior  officer  to  burn  the  town,  posi- 
tively refused  on  the  ground :  "  He  was  not  in  the  war  to  de- 
stroy the  homes  of  helpless  women  and  children/'  an  act  of 
disobedience  approved  by  General  Lee. 

Professor  Peters  died  of  pneumonia  at  the  University, 
March  22,  1906,  and  was  buried  at  Marion,  Va.  Of  his  death 
The  Sun  (Baltimore)  had  the  following  editorial:  "A 
Soldier  and  Educator. — The  death  of  Colonel  Peters,  emeritus 
professor  of  Latin  in  the  University  of  Virginia,  will  be  re- 
gretted by  his  large  circle  of  friends,  particularly  by  the 
thousands  of  former  pupils  who  are  scattered  throughout  the 
world.  A  teacher  of  unusual  excellence,  earnestness,  Pro- 
fessor Peters  spared  no  pains  to  interest  students  in  Latin  and 
was  very  successful.  Extra  hours  and  extra  lectures  were 
given  without  stint  to  those  who  wished  to  make  good  their 
shortcomings  in  his  specialty.  During  the  Civil  War  he  was 
similarly  indefatigable,  leaving  his  professorship  in  Emory  and 
Henry  College  for  the  tented  field.  Entering  the  army,  as  a 
private,  he  rose  to  the  rank  of  colonel  of  infantry  and  later  had 
command  of  the  Twenty-first  Regiment  of  Virginia  Cavalry. 
He  was  thrice  wounded  and  once  left  on  the  field  for  dead. 
But  his  vigorous  constitution,  fortified  by  years  of  active  cam- 
paigning, pulled  him  through,  and  he  survived  to  do  thirty- 
six  years  of  splendid  work  in  one  of  the  first  educational  in- 
stitutions in  the  land.  As  an  educator  and  as  a  soldier  he 
held  a  deservedly  high  place  in  the  esteem  of  his  contempo- 


raries." 


CHAPTER    XX 
PROFESSORS — PERSONAL  CHARACTERISTICS  AND  TRAITS 

Francis  Henry  Smith,  characteristics,  accomplishments  and  popularity; 
loyal  to  his  teacher  and  predecessor,  William  B.  Rogers — sketch  of 
latter.  Maximilian  Schele  De  Vere,  characteristics  and  popularity; 
students'  pranks;  last  visit  to  him,  1894;  his  semi-centennial;  value 
as  an  American  scholar.  Basil  Lanneau  Gildersleeve,  characteristics 
and  traits ;  war  incidents ;  class-room  diversions ;  regret  at  his  leaving 
the  University;  personal  letters,  etc. 

FRANCIS  HENRY  SMITH — It  was  my  privilege  to  receive 
two  years  of  instruction  from  this  gentleman,  a  period  suffi- 
cient to  observe  and  study  his  delightful  personality.  No 
one  could  come  in  contact  with  him,  for  ever  so  short  a  time, 
without  favorable  impressions,  such  as  implied  manly  instincts, 
moral  rectitude  and  sincereness  of  purpose — the  true  Christian 
character.  And  as  the  acquaintance  became  more  extended 
and  intimate  these  traits  appeared  manifestly  a  part  of  his  real 
nature.  He  was  only  forty-three  years  of  age,  but,  in  spite 
of  a  smooth  clerical  face,  seemed  considerably  older — pos- 
sibly from  his  quiet  serious  bearing  and  kind  gentle  manners. 
He  was  already  the  father  of  a  half-dozen  children,  some  about 
grown,  others  very  small,  and  the  health  of  his  wife,  frail, 
petite  and  highly  cultured — a  daughter  of  Gessner  Harrison — 
had  given  him  some  concern.  As  "  into  each  life  some  rain 
must  fall,"  his  had  been  no  exception,  but  he  passed  afong 
life's  journey  with  smiles  that  frequently  broke  into  audible 
laughter.  His  stature  was  of  the  smaller  type — about  five  feet 
seven  inches  high  and  one  hundred  and  fifty  pounds  in  weight ; 
face  without  beard  revealing  a  clear  healthy  complexion  and 
a  gentle  refined  expression;  forehead  high  and  broad;  nose, 
upper  lip  and  lower  jaw  strong,  more  or  less  positive;  eyes 
bright,  bluish  and  of  good  size;  step  quick,  firm  and  elastic. 
He  possessed  a  beautiful  flow  of  language  and  a  voice  that  was 
clear,  musical,  sonorous  with  volume  and  power — qualities 
that  made  him  an  exceptional  conversationalist,  an  attractive 
and  engaging  speaker.  He  had  a  heavy  suit  of  dark-brown 

384 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  385 

hair,  frequently  worn  long,  which  with  his  benign  countenance 
suggested  the  ministerial  cloth.  He  was  careful  to  be  clean- 
shaven and  well-dressed,  often  lecturing  in  a  frock  coat  and 
on  the  street  with  a  silk  hat.  I  think  beyond  doubt  he  was  the 
most  oratorical  and  polished  lecturer  then  at  the  University, 
an  impression  not  only  shared  by  the  majority  of  us,  but  of 
assured  outside  recognition  to  attract  frequently  to  his  lec- 
tures strangers  and  former  students  upon  return  visits.  The  se- 
cret of  this  high  distinction  lay  in  natural  gift  of  voice,  phrase- 
ology, ready  impressive  convincing  manner,  facial  expression 
and  a  masterly  knowledge  of  his  subjects — not  upon  scraps  of 
paper  or  manuscript,  but  at  tongue's  end.  At  times  he  wrote 
syllabi  on  the  blackboard,  incidentally  working  therefrom, 
but  such  were  chiefly  for  the  students'  benefit — in  a  measure 
taking  the  place  of  text-books — as  he  himself  never  followed 
them  strictly.  Then  again  his  subjects  appealed  to  most  per- 
sons, being  susceptible  of  great  or  small  possibilities  accord- 
ing into  whose  hands  they  fell  for  treatment  and  he  fortunately 
was  capable  of  making  much  out  of  them.  He  was  void  of 
sarcasm,  resentment,  vindictiveness  and  that  element  ungen- 
erously used  by  some  persons  in  trying  to  appear  brilliant — 
especially  at  another's  expense.  Be  conditions  and  attitude 
what  they  may  he  never  lost  his  dominant  individuality  and 
nature — the  gentleman ;  nor  did  he  ever  try  purposely  to  em- 
barrass students,  although  this  was  accomplished  in  no  un- 
certain way  by  his  searching  and  intricate  method  of  class  in- 
terrogation— that  which  was  accepted  by  us  to  be  in  the  line 
of  gaining  most  knowledge  in  his  departments,  and  by  him  a 
moral  duty  even  though  at  the  expense  of  our  personal  dis- 
comfort. His  class-room  was  immediately  under  the  rear  half 
of  the  Public  Hall,  the  space  under  the  first  half  being  divided 
in  the  center  by  a  six-foot  hall-way,  having  on  the  left  (west 
side)  his  laboratory  and  apparatus  room  and  on  the  right  (east 
side)  Professor  Minor's  lecture  room.  Here  he  knew  no  dis- 
tinction of  personages,  as  every  one  of  us  was  subjected  prac- 
tically to  the  same  trials  and  tasks.  When  calling  at  his 
home,  third  pavilion  from  the  Rotunda,  West  Lawn,  he  was 
affable,  agreeable  and  seemingly  with  abundant  time  at  our 
disposal.  Upon  the  highway  he  never  passed  by  us  without 
a  bow  and  smile,  and  if  need  be  made  a  halt  for  a  pleasant  ex- 


386  UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA 

change  of  words.  Thus  under  all  circumstances  he  was  ur- 
bane, kind,  considerate,  helpful  and  cheerful,  disliked  by  none, 
liked  by  all — characteristics  that  went  far  towards  encourag- 
ing and  benefiting  those  with  whom  he  came  in  contact.  We 
gave  him  no  nickname,  as  might  have  readily  been  coined — 
"  Old  Frank  "  or  "  Old  Smith  " — but  spoke  of  him  always  as 
"  Professor  Smith  "  or  "  Professor  Frank  Smith/'  He  was  a 
close  and  persistent  reader  with  a  quick  retentive  mind,  from 
which  little  escaped  having  value;  his  powers  of  observation, 
inference  and  deduction  were  well  cultivated  and  accurate. 
The  ridiculous  and  serious  alike  appealed  to  him — for  his 
liberal  caliber  accepted  all  conditions  philosophically,  those  re- 
garded necessary  for  a  full  development  of  manly  character. 
Although  his  duties  were  many,  having  little  time  for  other 
than  preparing  and  making  ready  class  experiments  and  lec- 
tures, yet  he  was  also  a  good  resourceful  citizen  to  his  com- 
munity and  State,  serving  both  well  when  occasion  called. 
He  could  become  so  absorbed  in  thought  as  to  lose  sight  of 
immediate  surroundings,  and  possessed,  therefore,  that  power 
of  concentration  accepted  by  some  psychologists  as  belonging 
alone  to  great  men.  During  the  hour  before  lecture,  especially 
towards  its  latter  portion,  while  the  class  gradually  assembled, 
I  have  often  seen  him  so  thoroughly  absorbed  in  the  prepara- 
tion of  apparatus  and  syllabus  that  he  was  lost  apparently  to 
the  outside  world.  He  might  happen  to  see  one  of  us  enter, 
but  the  sight  was  semiconscious,  as  he  seemed  almost  possessed 
by  a  charm  or  spell,  and  even  though  his  attention  be  diverted 
by  one  of  us  approaching  to  ask  a  question,  yet  he  did  not  re- 
linquish himself  entirely  from  the  serious  condition  until  the 
lecture  was  over.  It  was  during  such  a  mental  halo  that  we 
always  expected  beautiful  expressions  and  descriptions  in  En- 
glish— masterly  oratorical  efforts — and  usually  there  was  no 
disappointment.  He  was  an  ardent  admirer  of  Newton,  occa- 
sionally speaking  of  his  genius  in  brilliant  and  glowing  terms 
— once  I  distinctly  remember  his  concluding  words  to  have 
been  Pope's  beautiful  tribute : 

"Let   darkness  prevail  over  mind  and  night; 
God  said  Jet  Newton  be,  then  all  was  light. 

Such  bright  lights  as  Leplas,  Lavoicier,  Cavendish,  Kepler, 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  387 

Galileo,  Descartes,  Davy,  Franklin,  Agassiz,  Dana,  LeConte, 
Lyell,  Fraunhofer,  Thomsen,  and  scores  of  others  in  turn  came 
in  for  a  song  of  praise.  Happily  he  had  enjoyed  for  years 
a  close  intimacy  with  his  gifted  teacher  and  predecessor, 
William  B.  Rogers,  whose  life  had  been  to  him  an  inspiration 
and  worthy  of  emulation — that  which  he  strove  manfully  to 
approach,  if  not  to  equal.  Consequently  of  his  own  country- 
men none  received  such  frequent  mention  or  more  loyal  rec- 
ognition of  gratitude,  and  inasmuch  as  no  member  of  the 
University  Faculty,  past  or  present,  has  ever  enjoyed  such 
prominence  in  the  scientific  world  and  had  such  close  fellow- 
ship with  men  of  letters  throughout  our  country,  it  may  be 
pardonable  to  give  a  few  incidents  pertinent  to  this  great 
teacher.  Professor  William  B.  Rogers  in  August,  1835,  then 
thirty-one  years  of  age,  was  called  to  the  chair  of  Natural 
Philosophy  in  the  University.  During  the  preceding  seven 
years  he  had  presided  over  the  same  department,  including 
chemistry,  at  William  and  Mary  College,  where  at  an  earlier 
period  his  father  had  been  professor  many  years,  and  where 
he  himself  along  with  three  brothers  were  educated — all  to 
become  distinguished  teachers  and  scientists.  Owing  to  the 
malarial  climate  of  Williamsburg  Professor  Rogers  regularly 
spent  vacations  at  remote  points  and  continued  so  to  do  while 
connected  with  the  University.  Here  he  became  much  inter- 
ested in  geology,  and  with  his  brother  Henry  made  many 
summer  expeditions  in  the  Appalachian  region,  recording  re- 
sults in  numerous  original  contributions  that  caused  his  name 
to  be  well  known  then  throughout  the  scientific  world.  His 
natural  gifts  as  a  speaker,  beautiful  control  of  thought  and 
expression,  and  unusual  attainments  in  everything  educational 
brought  him  in  strong  favor  with  American  men  of  letters, 
especially  members  of  the  "  Association  of  Geologists  and 
Naturalists/'  whose  annual  meetings  he  attended  and  there 
usually  enunciated  something  new  and  interesting.  Thus  he 
became  intimate  with  Longfellow,  Lowell,  Agassiz,  Sumner, 
Phillips,  Pierce,  Gray,  Wayland,  Silliman,  Everett,  Murchison, 
Lyell,  Sedgwick,  Darwin,  Huxley,  Tyndall,  Faraday,  Parker, 
Owen,  Bailey,  Henry,  and  dozens  of  others  who  spent  their 
summers  more  or  less  together  in  congenial  latitudes.  His 
vacation  of  1845  was  passed  for  the  most  part  in  the  White 


388  UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA 

Mountains  in  company  with  his  brother  Henry,  and  on  the 
latter  part  of  the  journey  they  became  fellow  travelers  with  the 
family  of  Mr.  James  Savage  of  Boston,  in  whose  eldest 
daughter,  Emma,  Professor  Rogers  became  much  interested, 
and  finally  married,  June  20,  1849.  His  acknowledged  ability 
and  popularity  caused  invitations  to  lecture  before  many  large 
educational  bodies,  including  the  Mercantile  Library  Asso- 
ciation, Lowell  Institute,  Smithsonian  Institute,  etc.,  while 
other  universities  endeavored  to  possess  him  by  tempting 
offers.  Such  a  large  typed  man  of  diversified  knowledge, 
family  ties  and  scholarly  associates  could  hardly  be  expected 
to  remain  indefinitely  outside  of  a  great  metropolis  or  city- 
center.  Indeed,  as  early  as  1846  he  and  his  brother  Henry 
conceived  the  idea  of  establishing  a  Polytechnic  Institute  in 
Boston,  fashioned  somewhat  after  the  University  of  Virginia, 
and  even  the  year  before  Henry  took  up  residence  in  that  city. 
Professor  Rogers'  frequent  visits  North  convinced  him  of  the 
need  and  possibility  of  such  an  institution,  and  that  coupled 
with  Henry's  assurance,  along  with  a  desire  to  be  with  him  and 
other  mutual  social  scientific  friends,  actuated  a  serious  deter- 
mination to  resign  his  professorship  at  the  University — that 
which  he  did  several  times,  but  finally  with  effect  in  the  spring 
of  1853,  thence  going  directly  to  Boston.  Although  a  few 
years  later  Henry  was  chosen  professor  in  the  University  of 
Glasgow,  Professor  Rogers  pushed  forward  his  favorite 
scheme  with  indomitable  energy  until  he  succeeded — Jeffer- 
son-like— in  founding  the  Massachusetts  Institute  of  Tech- 
nology, becoming  its  first  president,  April  19,  1862. 

While  Professor  Rogers  retained  a  fondness  for  the  Uni- 
versity, where  he  spent  eighteen  very  active  years,  and  con- 
tinued to  hold  a  strong  liking  for  Southern  people,  yet  at  the 
outbreak  of  the  Civl  War  he  took  a  decided  stand  against 
slavery.  Thus  in  relation  to  the  John  Brown  episode  he 
wrote :  "  The  conduct  of  Wise  has  been  I  think  weak  and 
absurd;  the  course  of  the  Court  of  Appeals  harsh  if  not  in- 
iquitous." This  antislavery  sentiment  also  pervaded  Mrs. 
Rogers'  family,  even  to  the  extent  of  her  gifted  brother,  James 
Savage,  organizing  a  company,  becoming  its  captain  and  a 
part  of  the  Second  Regiment  of  Massachusetts  Volunteers. 
He  was  promoted  to  Major  for  gallantry  at  the  Battle  of  Win- 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  389 

Chester,  and  a  short  time  afterwards,  August  9,  1862,  received 
a  wound  at  Cedar  Mountain  from  which  he  died  six  weeks 
later,  October  22nd,  at  the  Confederate  hospital  in  Charlottes- 
ville.  Professor  Rogers,  upon  learning  of  the  injury  to  his 
brother-in-law,  set  out  on  the  hazardous  journey  to  reach  him, 
but  upon  arriving  at  Culpeper  and  the  battlefield  found  it 
impossible  to  cover  the  remaining  few  miles.  He,  however, 
wrote  many  letters  to  old  friends  and  associates  at  the  Uni- 
versity and  Charlottesville  imploring  compassion  and  mercy 
in  his  family  affliction.  Thus  it  seems  passing  strange  that  the 
field  of  labor,  once  so  congenial  and  delightful  to  Professor 
Rogers,  should  from  his  view-point  become  his  enemy's  camp 
and  the  death  scene  of  one  he  recognized  so  near  and  dear, 
where  in  spite  of  his  known  disloyalty  kind  friends  did  his 
bidding  by  tenderly  nursing  and  endeavoring  to  restore  to 
health  an  uncompromising  foe. 

Indeed,  at  the  close  of  Professor  Smith's  course  one  could 
not  fail  knowing  considerable,  and  wishing  to  know  more,  of 
the  Rogers  brothers. 

In  hydrostatics  and  other  connections  Mr.  Jefferson's  genius 
was  emphasized  favorably,  his  many  experiments  recited,  his 
small  telescope  exhibited  with  which  he  daily  watched  the 
progress  of  the  University  buildings  from  his  home,  four  miles 
distant,  and  his  great  part  played  in  advancing  general  science 
highly  commended.  Professor  Smith  during  the  session  had 
no  way  of  knowing  the  progress  of  his  students  except  by  the 
little  quizzing  of  each  day,  and  as  our  numbers  were  large  it 
required  time  to  make  the  rounds.  The  remarks  on  the 
monthly  reports,  outside  of  attendance,  were  few,  but  on  mine 
I  find  several  of  this  style :  "  Very  attentive.  Highly  com- 
mendable," etc. 

MAXIMILIAN  SCHELE  DE  VERE — One  had  only  to  hear  a 
few  sentences  of  the  first  lecture  under  this  gentleman  to  rec- 
ognize him  of  foreign  birth  and  tongue.  The  hissing  s's,  the 
rolling  r's,  and  a  slight  distinctive  pronunciation  of  most  words 
gave  evidence  that  he  was  neither  an  Englishman  nor  an  Amer- 
ican. From  his  suave  manners  and  personal  tout  ensemble 
many  of  us  in  our  earlier  days  believed  him  to  be  of  French 
descent — that  which  was  found  later  untrue.  Some  years 


390  UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA 

after  my  University  course  I  asked  him  the  pointed  question, 
when  he  gladly  emphasized  being  a  pure  Swede.  To  that  I 
remarked :  "  You  then  have  the  happy  fortune  of  belonging 
to  that  nationality  which  in  my  judgment  has  furnished  the 
greatest  naturalist,  Linnaeus,  that  has  ever  lived."  To  this 
he  replied :  "  You  certainly  place  a  very  high  opinion  upon 
my  fellow  countryman — indeed,  science  not  being  my  life's 
work,  I  had  not  associated  with  him  so  great  a  distinction." 

During  my  student  life  we  never  called  him  "  Professor  De 
Vere,"  but  either  "  Professor  Schele  "  or  "  Old  Schele,"  mean- 
ing thereby  not  the  least  disrespect,  for  no  professor  seemed 
more  removed  from  criticism  and  dislike  than  he.  In  fact  an 
unverified  rumor  prevailed  among  us  that  he  would  not  pitch 
or  throw  any  student  with  good  class  record  unless  his  final 
examinations  were  woefully  deficient.  This,  true  or  false, 
stamped  him  universally — professor  cum  laude.  In  spite  of 
his  nativity  he  was  a  profound  and  well-trained  linguist,  speak- 
ing fluently  more  than  a  half-dozen  languages,  possessing  in 
English  a  rich  and  choice  vocabulary.  His  enunciation, 
though  clear,  deliberate  and  distinct,  carried  a  peculiar  intona- 
tion that  required  on  our  part  a  few  lectures  before  becoming 
satisfactorily  intelligent.  His  voice  was  moderately  heavy  and 
decidedly  agreeable ;  delivery  filled  with  quiet  enthusiasm,  well 
calculated  to  give  inspiration  and  encouragement  even  to  the 
laggard ;  manners  refined  and  cultured,  never  losing  courteous 
instincts  and  gentlemanly  bearing.  He  was  then  fifty-three 
years  of  age,  which  he  bore  with  unusual  grace,  heavy  set, 
possibly  five  feet  six  inches  high,  and  weighing  one  hundred 
and  sixty  pounds.  His  face  was  of  the  roundish  type,  with 
florid  complexion  relieved  bv  a  thick  grayish-black  moustache 
groomed  with  much  care  and  precision;  hair  abundant  and 
black  mixed  with  gray,  always  neatly  arranged;  nose  well- 
formed  and  proportioned;  forehead  broad  and  deep;  step 
quick,  light  and  elastic,  carrying  the  body  straight  or  severely 
erect;  eyes  dark,  penetrating  and  of  good  size;  feet  small  and 
always  clothed  in  neatly  fitting  shoes  of  light  texture.  He 
wore  a  silk  hat  except  in  summer,  when  it  was  replaced  by  one 
of  high  priced  straw.  I  never  saw  him  move  slowly  when 
alone,  always  appeared  in  a  little  haste  to  reach  the  objective 
point,  but  when  walking  in  the  afternoon  with  a  colleague  for 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  391 

recreation  and  pleasure  his  steps  were  noticeably  more  delib- 
erate. Under  all  conditions  he  was  well-dressed,  observing 
conventionalities  in  greater  degree  than  any  of  his  confreres. 
Indeed,  among  us  students  it  was  understood  he  abhored  one 
indifferently  clothed,  as  did  nature  a  vacuum,  while  to  be  dec- 
orated in  a  brilliant  cravat  (red)  atoned  in  his  sight  for  many 
defects.  For  the  accuracy  of  this  legendary  impression  none 
of  us  could  vouch,  nor  did  we  know  its  origin,  but  the  truth 
was  that  few  among  us  lived  up  to  such  a  fancied  ideal,  and 
the  princely,  few,  as  well  as  the  modest  clad,  many,  received 
alike  his  approval  for  graduation. 

He  invariably  entered  the  modern  language  room,  in  the  one 
story  west  wing  flanking  the  Rotunda,  a  minute  or  two  be- 
fore the  hour,  remained  standing  until  "  Henry  "  finished  ring- 
ing the  bell,  called  the  roll  deliberately,  and  at  once  began 
earnest  work — being  all  the  time  either  busy  himself  or  ener- 
getically hastening  those  under  him  in  that  direction.  In  his 
rear  %ras  a  good-sized  black-board,  and  in  front  a  small  skele- 
ton table  with  stout  rungs  a  few  inches  from  the  floor  upon 
which  one  or  the  other  foot  frequently  rested  while  lecturing. 
The  benches  to  his  front  which  we  occupied  were  in  straight 
rows,  each  slightly  elevated  above  the  other  from  front  to  rear, 
as  was  the  case  in  nearly  all  lecture  rooms,  thereby  affording 
for  all  a  commanding  view.  He  was  not  so  much  given  as 
some  others  to  writing  set  syllabi  on  the  blackboard  previous 
to  lecture,  but  when  lecturing  often  turned  around  and  wrote 
such  matter — rules,  examples,  etc. — as  he  considered  most 
important.  He  disliked  all  kinds  of  interruptions,  and  when  a 
student  happened  to  enter  late  he  would  pause  in  order  to 
punctuate  the  discourtesy  and  to  give  the  offender  a  look  indi- 
cating surprise  and  disapproval.  His  was  rather  a  volatile 
disposition,  showing  quickly  dissatisfaction  at  one's  recitation 
not  measuring  up  near  to  perfection — this  being  manifested  by 
insisting  to  the  bitter  end  in  a  positive  stern  manner  upon 
having  that  which  was  correct.  When  this  was  not  forth- 
coming his  displeasure  was  recognized  readily,  although  he 
never  expressed  madness  outwardly.  Perfect  answering, 
curl,  always  evoked  his  smile,  and  often  the  commendatory 
words,  "  Very  satisfactory." 

Students   inclined   occasionally  to   take   advantage   of  his 


392  UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA 

impulsive  nature  by  pulling  in  rapid  succession  his  front  door- 
bell during  the  late  hours  of  night,  thus  arousing  him  from 
slumbers  and  annoying  him  into  calling  out  the  window  in 
rapid  excited  phrases.  One  night  a  small  goat  was  tied  to 
the  bell-knob,  only  to  have  the  little  fellow  rush  frequently  to 
the  end  of  his  rope  giving  vigorous  pulls,  when  those  rooming 
near  and  into  the  secret,  in  order  to  harbor  the  miscreants, 
affirmed  the  scene  to  be  highly  amusing  as  the  professor  ap- 
peared at  the  front-door  and  released  the  captive  amid  excite- 
ment and  a  pyrotechnic  display  of  dialectical  English.  At  his 
office,  room  north  of  home,  I  visited  him  occasionally,  where 
he  was  affable  and  friendly,  with  the  exception  of  one  call 
made  the  day  prior  to  our  Junior  French  examination,  when 
my  mission  was  to  ascertain  definitely  whether  or  not  we  were 
to  be  held  accountable  for  all  the  irregular  verbs  given  in  his 
grammar.  To  this  he  quickly  affirmed :  "  Most  assuredly," 
and  in  manner,  I  thought,  indicating  provoked  surprise — 
equivalent  to  a  reprimand  for  asking  what  appeared  to  him 
such  a  foolish  question.  At  his  home,  second  pavilion  from 
the  Rotunda,  East  Lawn,  he  was  a  most  charming  host,  as 
was  his  wife  a  hostess,  and  therein  dispensed  to  a  select 
coterie  a  decidedly  beautiful  and  sincere  hospitality.  Usually 
one  evening  during  the  "  Finals  "  they  gave  a  large  reception, 
and  those  students  whose  presence  was  desired  received  written 
invitations  delivered  far  in  advance  through  the  mail.  Indeed, 
those  of  us  thus  singled  out  considered  ourselves  rather  fav- 
ored and  fortunate,  as  he  was  recognized  somewhat  seclusive 
in  drawing  the  social  line.  He  was  a  fine  teacher,  having  the 
rare  faculty  of  getting  work  out  of  almost  every  student, 
chiefly  through  commanding  great  respect  and  tolerating  noth- 
ing that  was  trifling — qualities  that  reduced  his  class-failures 
to  a  minimum.  His  classes  were  moderately  large,  but  in 
quizzing  made  the  rounds  in  quick  succession,  thereby  being 
enabled  along  with  the  weekly  exercises  to  keep  pace  with  each 
one's  work  and  progress.  My  monthly  reports  contain  mostly 
the  simple  words,  "  Doing  well,"  relieved  occasionally  by, 
"  Doing  very  well  "  and  "  An  excellent  student." 

My  last  visit  to  him  was  in  company  with  my  wife,  Septem- 
ber, 1894,  when  we  spent  the  evening  delightfully — both  he 
and  Mrs.  Schele  being  at  their  best.  As  one  of  the  collabora- 


Professor  William  H.  McGuffey,  LJv.D.,  at  seventy 
1800-1873" 

See  page  423 


FACING  392 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  393 

tors  of  the  Standard  Dictionary  he  had  been  busy  some  months 
and  then  was  about  finishing  the  portion  assigned  him.  We 
talked  not  a  little  of  the  University,  discussed  the  value  of  his 
own  efforts  and  faithfulness  in  educating  the  youth  of  the 
South,  while  I  endeavored  to  impress  his  merits  as  comparing 
so  favorably  with  Whitney  and  Marsh.  His  modesty,  how- 
ever, was  pronounced,  disclaiming  any  relative  position  for 
himself — that  which  I  was  equally  firm  in  maintaining.  In 
appearance  he  had  changed  considerably  since  my  student  days 
— more  fleshy,  less  shapely  and  distingue,  but  that  gracious 
mannerism,  courteous  deference  and  open-handed  friendship 
remained  just  the  same.  He  was  loath  to  see  us  go,  exacting 
another  call  in  the  morning,  that  which  we  gladly  lived  up  to. 
His  mind  was  still  strong  and  resourceful,  his  body  active, 
healthy  and  responsive  to  will,  while  he  expressed  the  hope  and 
expectation  of  performing  professorial  duties  for  years  to  come 
— a  desire  unfortunately  never  realized.  In  fact  he  almost 
quoted  the  language  used  on  another  occasion :  "  I  may  ven- 
ture the  hope  that  God,  in  his  great  mercy,  will  permit  me  to 
devote  my  life  and  my  work  to  my  beloved  new  home — the 
land  of  my  choice  and  the  people  of  my  love — till  it  pleases 
Him  to  summon  me  to  my  eternal  home."  A  few  weeks  later, 
September  23rd,  he  completed  his  fifty  years  of  active  service  at 
the  University,  an  event  that  received  appropriate  recognition 
in  the  form  of  a  testimonial  gift  from  a  number  of  his  past 
and  present  students.  This  consisted  of  a  large  punch-bowl 
of  solid  silver  lined  with  gold,  and  a  ladle  to  match,  all  en- 
closed in  a  handsome  quartered  oak  case  mounted  with  brass. 
The  bowl  bore  this  inscription :  "  M.  Schele  De  Vere,  Uni- 
versity of  Virginia,  Professor  of  Modern  Languages.  Ap- 
pointed 23rd.  September,  1844.  Presented  by  his  colleagues 
and  former  pupils,  on  this  fiftieth  anniversary  of  his  appoint- 
ment, in  recognition  of  the  lasting  value  of  his  Half  Century 
of  distinguished  service,  and  in  testimony  of  their  enduring 
regard."  A  letter  of  congratulation  accompanied  the  gift 
from  which  a  passage  may  be  quoted :  "  When  your  graceful 
contributions  to  literature  are  reviewed,  your  fame  seems  well 
grounded  and  abiding.  But  your  renown  does  not  depend 
upon  these, '  for  your  reputation  is  safe  in  the  affectionate  and 
grateful  remembrance  of  your  old  pupils,  who  recall  with 


394  UNIVERSITY    OF   VIRGINIA 

pride  your  eloquent  lectures  and  acknowledge  with  gratitude 
their  indebtedness  to  your  faithful  instruction."  The  account 
of  this  occasion  would  not  be  complete  without  a  few  para- 
graphs from  Professor  Smith's  tribute :  "  I  knew  him  as  his 
students  knew  him,  as  a  professor,  and  as  his  colleagues  know 
him,  in  the  courtesies  of  social  life.  When  I  was  a  student 
here  he  was  in  the  vigor  of  manhood,  a  master  of  English,  but 
speaking  it  with  a  foreign  intonation,  to  which  becoming  ac- 
customed it  was  delightful  to  attend  his  lectures.  After  an 
unsatisfactory  tussle  at  taking  notes  under  a  rapid  talker,  it 
was  exceedingly  pleasant  to  pass  into  the  modern  language 
lecture-room  and  listen,  pencil  in  hand,  to  the  clear  and  not 
too  fast  utterance  of  the  perspicuous  teacher,  who  frequently 
paused,  of  purpose  and  yet  naturally,  to  pass  to  the  black- 
board and  write  down  an  illustrative  word  or  sentence  in  that 
well-remembered  beautifully  distinct  and  elegant  chirography 
of  his,  thus  giving  even  the  slow  writer  ample  time  to  jot  down 
every  word,  both  spoken  and  written.  It  was  my  opinion 
then,  and  is  now,  that  Dr.  Schele  was,  on  the  whole,  the  best 
teacher  of  modern  languages  with  whom  I  was  ever  brought 
in  contact.  He  taught  four  languages  at  that  time,  and  had 
classes  in  all.  He  showed  the  same  points  of  excellence  in 
each,  as  I  judge  from  the  remarks  of  friends  who  attended  the 
classes  I  did  not.  His  bearing  on  the  lecture  platform  was  a 
model  of  propriety.  In  the  years  during  which  I  attended  his 
classes  I  recall  not  a  single  disagreeable  incident.  It  seemed 
to  us  students  as  if  Dr.  Schele  was  by  general  consent  regarded 
as  the  arbiter  of  *  good  form/  What  he  indorsed  was  ques- 
tioned by  no  one  else,  and  what  he  did  not  indorse  was,  ipse 
facto,  of  doubtful  fashion.  His  appearance  in  the  social  circle, 
his  tact,  his  command  of  English,  which  one  would  have 
thought  to  be  his  native  tongue  but  for  the  slight  intonation, 
his  easy  polished  manners,  indicating  habitual  contact  in  his 
early  life  with  people  of  culture  in  his  native  land,  all  con- 
spired to  make  him  a  social  leader,  and  endowed  him  with  that 
strange  influence  which  culture  often  gives  to  men  of  less 
talent  than  his  over  strong  intellects." 

While  students,  we  did  not  look  upon  Professor  Schele  as 
our  most  distinguished  scholar,  but  simply  one  among  the  four 
or  five  strongest  lights.  In  the  retrospect  of  years,  however, 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  395 

an  acquaintance  with  his  writings,  the  versatility  of  his  knowl- 
edge and  subjects,  and  his  mastery  of  so  many  languages  in- 
cline one  to  recognize  him  as  the  most  liberally  educated  and 
cultured  member  of  the  Faculty.  He  was  so  active  and  in- 
dustrious that  his  mind  and  hand  were  creating  always  some 
contribution  to  literature  that  brought  to  himself  and  the  Uni- 
versity immeasurable  distinction.  Passing  over  his  Spanish 
Grammar  (1853),  several  French  books,  and  translated  novels 
from  the  French  and  German,  his  first  work  that  attracted 
attention  was,  "  Comparative  Philology,"  1853;  then  followed 
as  important  companions,  "  Stray  Leaves  from  the  Book  of 
Nature,"  1855;  "Studies  in  English,"  1866;  "Grammar  in 
French,"  1867;  "French  Readers,"  1876;  "Wonders  of  the 
Deep,"  1869;  "The  Great  Empress,"  1869;  "Problematic 
Characters,"  Spielhagen,  1869;  "Through  Night  to  Light," 
Spielhagen,  1869;  "The  Hohenstein,"  Spielhagen,  1870; 
"Americanisms,"  1871;  "Romance  of. American  History," 
1872;  "Modern  Magic,"  1873. 

Professor  Schele  outlined  some  religious  views  in  his  "  Mod- 
ern Magic"  to  which  no  doubt  he  attached  faith,  and  whose 
summary  here  may  be  of  interest :  "  I  believe  that  our  inner 
life — including  memory,  imagination  and  reason — continues 
after  the  body's  death ;  that  the  living  soul  can  commune  with 
the  outer  world  only  by  means  of  the  body,  with  which  it  is 
united  in  this  life,  but  at  times  it  may  act  independently  of  the 
body — developing  the  forces  called  magic  powers.  When  the 
body  becomes  an  instrument  unfit  to  serve  the  soul  the  tie 
formed  before  or  at  the  moment  of  birth  is  gradually  loosened. 
The  soul  no  longer  receives  impressions  from  the  outer  world 
such  as  the  body  heretofore  conveyed  to  it,  and  with  this  ces- 
sation of  mutual  action  ends,  also,  the  community  of  sensation. 
The  living  soul  possibly  becomes  conscious  of  its  separation 
from  the  dead  body  and  the  world,  but  continues  to  exist  in 
loneliness  and  self-dependence.  Its  life  becomes  only  more 
active  and  self-conscious  as  it  is  no  longer  consumed  by  inter- 
course with  the  world,  nor  disturbed  by  bodily  disorders  and 
infirmities.  The  soul  recalls  with  ease  all  long-forgotten  or 
much-dimmed  sensations.  What  it  feels  most  deeply  at  first 
is  the  double  grief  of  its  separation  from  the  body  and  its 
sins  committed  during  life.  After  a  while  this  grief  begins  to 


396  UNIVERSITY    OF   VIRGINIA 

moderate  and  the  soul  returns  to  a  state  of  peace ;  sooner  by 
those  having  secured  righteous  peace  on  earth,  later  by  the 
worldly  and  sensuous.  At  the  same  time  the  living  soul  enters 
into  communion  with  other  souls,  retaining  its  individuality 
in  sex,  character  and  temper,  and  proceeds  on  a  course  of 
gradual  purification,  till  it  reaches  the  desired  haven  in  perfect 
reconciliation  with  God.  During  this  intermediate  time  these 
living  souls  may  continue  to  maintain  some  kind  of  inter- 
course with  the  souls  of  men  on  earth,  with  whom  they  share 
all  that  constitutes  their  essential  nature,  save  only  the  one  fact 
of  bondage  to  the  body.  Reciprocally  the  souls  in  man  may 
perceive  and  consort  to  a  degree  with  souls  detached  from  mor- 
tal bodies.  Man  leaves  behind  his  dead  body  but  continues  to 
live  a  soul  with  peculiar  powers  in  another  world.  This  soul 
has  no  longer  earthly  organs  of  sense  to  do  its  bidding,  but  it 
still  controls  nature  which  was  made  subject  to  its  will;  it  has, 
moreover,  a  new  set  of  powers  which  represent  in  the  higher 
world  its  higher  body,  and  the  character  of  its  new  active  life 
will  be  all  the  more  elevated,  as  these  organs  are  more  spiritual. 
Man  cannot  continue  to  develop,  grow  and  ripen  in  the  next 
world  as  he  did  in  this;  his  nature  and  destiny  are  alike  in- 
compatible with  sudden  transitions  and  with  absolute  rest. 
The  soul  must  become  purer  and  more  useful,  its  organs  more 
subtle  and  powerful  yielding  a  life  of  gradual  improvement 
and  purification." 

Professor  Schele,  owing  to  physical  infirmities,  resigned  his 
connection  with  the  University  in  1895,  an<^  accepted  linguistic 
work  under  the  government  at  Washington,  where  he  died  in 
Providence  Hospital,  May  10,  1898.  He  was  buried  in  Rock 
Creek  Cemetery,  where  a  few^  months  later  was  laid  to  rest  by 
his  side  that  accomplished  companion  in  life  whose  social 
charm  and  exquisite  refinement  had  dominated  so  many  years 
their  University  home  and  atmosphere.  When  considering 
his  long  connection  with  the  University,  and  the  thousands  of 
sons  trained  in  part  by  his  knowing  hand,  it  may  be  said  in 
truth  that  few  of  her  professors  have  brought  her  more  re- 
nown or  made  a  greater  impress  towards  scholarly  attainments 
and  gentlemanly  culture.  It  is  sad  that  in  death  he  failed  to 
find  the  resting  place  deserved — within  the  sacred  precinct  of 
his  life's  work,  under  the  shade  of  its  trees. 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  397 

BASIL  LANNEAU  GILDERSLEEVE — It  was  my  intention  to 
take  the  "  green  ticket "  upon  entering  the  University,  in  fact 
so  matriculated,  but  after  attending  three  lectures  in  each 
school  and  hearing  discouraging  comment  by  older  students 
upon  the  many  inevitable  difficulties  of  the  combination,  I 
accepted  the  substitution  privilege,  granted  alike  to  all,  and 
replaced  Greek  with  Natural  Philosophy,  thereby  deferring 
for  a  year  the  renewal  of  Hellenic  study.  The  slight  contact 
of  that  initial  week  with  Professor  Gildersleeve  seemed  suffi- 
cient to  establish  me  in  his  memory,  at  least,  to  courteous  rec- 
ognition ever  thereafter,  so  that  when  in  my  second  year  I 
came  under  him  in  reality  we  appeared  somewhat  acquainted. 
He  was  a  very  familiar  personage  in  and  around  the  Univer- 
sity, being  thoroughly  democratic  in  his  ways  and  doings, 
and  showing  himself  without  reserve  at  all  functions  of  an 
educational  character — those  calculated  to  bring  out  the 
student-body  and  improve  the  literary  atmosphere.  He 
worked  hard  but  with  method,  recognizing  that  exercise  played 
no  little  part  towards  satisfactory  mental  activity.  After- 
noon walks,  therefore,  were  indulged  in  daily,  weather  per- 
mitting, sometimes  along  one  of  the  divergent  roads,  again 
on  the  highway  toward  town,  in  company  with  one  of  his 
several  colleagues — usually  Professor  Peters,  apparently  the 
most  congenial  and  healthful  companion,  due  possibly  to  their 
life's  work  being  along  kindred  lines.  Occasionally  he  would 
be  alone  and  then  frequently  absorbed  in  thought  as  to  lose 
sight  of  other  than  general  surroundings,  thus  allowing  those 
en  passant  to  be  unnoticed.  This  habit  evoked  some  little 
criticism  from  students,  giving  occasion  for  the  prevailing  idea 
that  "  Old  Gil,"  as  he  was  often  called — but  in  no  spirit  of 
opprobrium — would  only  speak  to  those  standing  well  in  his 
department — an  idea,  although  thoroughly  false,  that  served 
well  in  stimulating  some  to  study  in  order  to  merit  and  receive 
his  coveted  approbation.  He  was  just  forty-three  years  of 
age,  but  seemed  to  us  youthful  fellows  at  least  fifty — due 
possibly  to  his  sober  reflective  manner,  general  bearing", 
favorable  reputation,  and  what  he  had  accomplished  already  in 
the  world  of  letters.  He  was  about  six  feet  high  and  weighed 
one  hundred  and  seventy-five  pounds.  His  face  was  full  but 
mostly  covered  with  a  good  growth  of  jet-black  beard  and 


398  UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA 

moustache,  worn  rather  long  and  giving  thereby  a  decidedly 
distinguished  appearance;  forehead  broad  and  high;  nose 
shapely  and  of  good  size ;  hair  black,  thin  towards  the  occipital 
front  and  center ;  voice  of  the  upper  gamut — clear,  distinct  and 
penetrating;  delivery  thoughtful,  rather  slow  but  not  tedious; 
eyes  darkish,  clear,  penetrating  and  of  full  size.  His  gait  was 
interrupted,  for  during  the  Civil  War  he  performed  double 
duty — taught  the  sessions  and  fought  the  vacations — so  that 
while  serving  on  General  Gordon's  staff  he  received  a  severe 
wound  during  Early's  campaign  of  1864,  resulting  in  making 
his  left  leg  slightly  shorter.  This,  however,  was  not  without 
an  element  of  compensation  growing  out  of  a  happy  romance 
— if  the  then  current  impression  among  us  students  could  be 
credited — in  that  the  pretty  daughter  of  her  who  so  tenderly 
ministered  to  his  tardy  recovery  found  a  cord  of  interest  that 
ripened  into  life  companionship.  Fortunately  this  halting 
step  was  little  noticed,  from  the  higher  heel  worn  upon  that 
shoe,  but  was  sufficient  usually  for  recognition  in  the  dis- 
tance. Truly  like  Tyrtseus,  in  body  only  was  he  a  lame 
schoolmaster.  In  an  address  made  at  Princeton  in  1899,  on 
his  fiftieth  anniversary  of  graduation,  when  he  was  honored 
with  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Humanities  (L.  H.  D.),  he  said 
in  part :  "  For  all  the  kind  words  that  have  been  said  about 
my  career  as  a  scholar  and  a  man  of  letters,  for  the  high  honor 
with  which  you  have  crowned  that  career,  I  am  deeply  grate- 
ful. How  far  short  my  achievements  have  fallen  of  the  aims 
and  aspirations  with  which  I  set  out  from  Princeton  fifty  years 
ago  need  not  be  recalled.  I  learned  early  from  the  Bishop  of 
Hopkins,  whose  teachings  molded  the  Princeton  of  my  time, 
that  it  is  better  to  limp  in  the  right  road  than  to  run  in  the 
wrong,  and  thanks  to  the  glorious  Princeton  spirit,  I  have  not 
been  trodden  down  or  faltered  in  all  this  time.  For  that 
reason,  it  is  a  great  gratification  to  me  that  my  Alma  Mater 
has  found  me  fruitful.  The  sweet  memories  of  my  college 
days  are  the  cherished  ones  of  my  life." 

Professor  Gildersleeve  dressed  well  but  not  conspicuous, 
favoring  the  cutaway  or  frock  coat,  the  derby  or  silk  hat.  At 
his  home,  first  pavilion  from  the  Rotunda,  West  Lawn,  he 
gladly  received  and  gave  help  at  all  available  hours  to  those 
students  who  called.  His  wife  possessed  personal  charm  and 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  399 

popularity,  so  of  evenings  was  not  neglected  by  those  of  us 
that  vied  in  social  pleasures.  During  these  visits  the  Pro- 
fessor would  usually  show  himself  in  the  parlor  for  a  few 
minutes,  and  those  not  under  him,  therefore  unacquainted  with 
his  ready  wit  and  repartee,  often  recounted  their  discomfort, 
not  to  say  embarrassment,  at  something  bright  gotten  off  at 
their  or  another's  expense,  while  those  familiar  with  his  char- 
acteristic gifts  and  inclination  fri  never  losing  a  good  oppor- 
tunity for  witticism,  accepted  the  situation  with  greater  resig- 
nation. His  class-room  was  that  usually  called  the  "  Moral 
Philosophy  Room,"  Rotunda  basement,  right  hand  (east) — 
it  serving  conjointly  the  two  departments — and  here  we  found 
him  always  serious,  frequently  relieved,  however,  by  a  vein  of 
wit,  a  little  sarcasm,  or  a  mild  ( ?)  criticism  of  some  article, 
book,  or  author  that  breathed  imperfectly,  from  his  view- 
point, the  Grecian  atmosphere  and  spirit.  His  humor  seemed 
never  studied,  but  spontaneous  to  the  occasion — often 
prompted  by  immediate  conditions — and  always  found  a  happy 
response  in  the  class;  his  joking  proclivity  was  famed,  his 
jokes  numerous,  often  new,  rich  and  laughable,  going  far 
towards  lightening  the  gravity  of  the  moment  by  a  mirthful 
application  to  the  manners,  personalities,  or  localities  of  the 
passages  under  consideration.  The  classes  being  of  medium 
size  allowed  the  rounds  of  individual  recitation  to  follow  in 
quick  succession — a  fact  that  not  only  marked  soon  for  us  the 
good,  bad  and  indifferent  members,  but  gave  him  opportunity 
for  encouraging  and  helping  along  the  needy.  This  he  did 
faithfully  for  such  that  showed  inclination  to  profit,  but  those 
willfully  and  persistently  neglecting  duty  met  with  a  reciprocal 
apathy  that  permitted  them  to  remain  in  their  seats — uncalled 
and  unnoticed. 

Somehow  or  another  we  considered  Professor  Gildersleeve 
our  best  English  scholar,  in  spite  of  his  having  nothing  to  do 
with  that  department — possibly  owing  to  his  acknowledged 
beautiful  equivalents  of  Latin  examples  throughout  his  gram- 
mar— while  of  Greek  we  believed  him  the  most  profound  mas- 
ter in  our  broad  land.  As  a  teacher  he  required  correct  trans- 
lation, but  inclined  rather  to  the  free  than  the  literal,  thus 
preferred  rain  to  water  from  the  clouds,  as  the  Greeks  would 
have  it,  and  in  every  connection  an  interpretation  conforming 


400  UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA 

best  to  our  language.  In  exercises  (composition)  he  was 
liberal  in  giving  credit  for  paraphrasing  his  English  when  the 
same  sense  was  preserved,  even  though  it  evaded  an  idiom 
or  construction  he  desired — that  from  which  we  endeavored 
to  escape  as  a  result  of  insufficient  knowledge.  I  think  he, 
as  did  the  other  language  professors,  placed  more  importance 
upon  the  exercises  than  all  else  combined,  and  certainly  it 
was  these  that  gave  us  most  concern  and  trouble. 

A  frequent  posture  while  lecturing  was  to  lean  easily  upon 
one  elbow  resting  on  the  desk  in  front,  stroke  his  long  beard, 
roll  his  eyes  upward,  and  slowly  enunciate  that  which  was 
either  serious,  pathetic,  or  extremely  amusing.  When  so 
positioned  we  felt  sure  that  extremes,  or  something  beyond 
the  ordinary,  were  likely  to  happen,  and  as  a  rule  we  met  no 
disappointment.  The  "  twinkle  of  the  eye "  along  with  a 
smile — sometimes  an  audible  hearty  laugh — was  a  delightful 
solace  that  frequently  followed  some  slight  reprimand.  I  do 
not  recall  the  slightest  unpleasantness  to  have  ever  passed  be- 
tween us,  although  some  others  were  not  so  fortunate — those 
who  took  exception  to  certain  manners  or  methods.  I  was 
rather  a  faithful  student,  by  no  means  brilliant,  and  he  seem- 
ingly appreciated  honest  effort,  even  though  it  fell  short  of  the 
highest  and  best  results.  In  my  monthly  reports  he  employed 
occasionally  such  remarks  as,  "  Doing  well  "  or  "  A  good 
student,"  but  nothing  more  commendatory — indeed,  quite  all 
I  deserved,  but  sufficient  to  encourage  me  and  to  show  that 
he  recognized  I  was  doing  work — not  idling  away  time  and 
opportunity. 

We  all  were  very  loath  to  have  him  leave  us  in  1876,  to  be- 
come identified  with  the  Johns  Hopkins  University,  and  on 
Commencement  Day  of  that  year,  June  3Oth,  after  the  diplo- 
mas had  been  distributed  and  Dr.  Harrison  was  about  taking 
his  seat,  a  wild  cry  for  Gildersleeve  rang  throughout  the  Hall 
—an  appeal  that  brought  forth  a  sad  response  including  these 
sentences :  "  In  this  Hall  years  ago  I  sat  and  heard  Gessner 
Harrison  read  his  farewell  because  he  could  not  trust  himself 
to  speak  it,  and  even  then  he  scarcely  could  proceed  for  the 
blinding  tears.  I  thought  at  that  time  how  glorious  it  must 
be  for  a  man  to  stand  as  he  then  stood,  with  such  an  audience 
sobbing  at  his  departure ;  but  I  little  dreamed  that  I  too  would 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  401 

one  day  stand  on  the  same  spot  and  say  good-bye  to  the  same 
audience;  I  had  not  thought  of  saying  farewell  to  you  till  I 
should  bid  the  world  good-night.  Here  to  me  love,  labor 
and  sorrow  have  found  their  keenest  expression,  while  friend- 
ship for  these  colleagues  around  me  has  become  the  strongest 
— as  dear  as  between  brothers — and  the  thought  of  separation 
saddens  my  heart.  I  may  have  spoken  many  ill-advised  words 
since  coming  here,  but  have  spoken  naught  in  malice.  I 
think  I  may  say  without  fear  of  contradiction  that  I  have 
striven  faithfully  to  do  my  best ;  I  hope  some  of  my  old  pupils 
are  not  altogether  ashamed  of  their  preceptor;  for  them,  at 
least,  my  heart  swells  with  pride,  and  if  I  have  turned  out  in 
the  twenty  years  of  my  professional  career  only  the  one 
noble  scholar  who  is  to  succeed  me,  I  shall  not  think  my  life  a 
failure.  To  the  University  I  shall  give  my  allegiance,  her 
fame  is  mine,  and  her  lofty  standard  of  morals,  her  unswerv- 
ing adherence  to  truth  and  purity,  and  all  high  and  noble 
learning  shall  be  my  standard  forever."  It  surely  was  a  most 
pathetic  scene — himself  very  quiet,  with  partially  bowed  head, 
slow,  deliberate  expression,  evidently  feeling  the  pathos  of 
each  sentence,  seemed  all  that  was  needed  to  bring  tears  to 
many  and  to  suppress  in  all  a  mirth  that  an  instant  before  had 
been  so  pronounced. 

Since  those  University  days  I  have  seen  far  more  of  Pro- 
fessor Gildersleeve  than  any  other  of  my  old  teachers,  as  for 
the  past  thirty  years  we  have  trod  daily  the  same  streets  and 
by-ways.  Even  our  homes  approximate  a  stone's  throw,  and 
yet  our  lines  of  work  are  so  divergent,  our  interests  seemingly 
so  little  in  common,  that  we  seldom  interchange  more  than 
passing  salutations — never  beyond  a  short  hurried  conversa- 
tion. On  one  occasion  he  related  an  incident  that  had  occurred 
in  the  then  near  past,  so  illustrative  of  a  phase  in  his  person- 
ality as  to  deserve  repeating  here :  "  When  returning  this 
summer  from  the  Old  Sweet  Springs,  as  our  train  neared  the 
University,  I  walked  to  the  rear  platform  of  the  Pullman  in 
order  to  view  better  the  scene  of  more  youthful  years.  A 
young  man  soon  joined  me,  evidently  desiring  to  convey  in- 
formation, who  remarked,  pointing  with  his  hand,  "  That  is  the 
University  of  Virginia  " ;  to  which  I  replied,  "  Yes  " ;  where- 
upon he  added,  "  I  used  to  be  a  student  there,"  only  to  receive 


402  UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA 

the  same  monosyllabic  reply,  "  Yes."     Thus  leaving  the  per- 
sonal identity  of  both  unrevealed." 

On  his  seventieth  birthday,  October  23,  1901,  I  extended 
him  congratulations  by  letter,  to  which  the  following  is  a 
reply: 

Dear  Dr.  Culbreth:  Nothing  could  be  more  gratifying  to  me  in  this 
season  of  good  wishes  than  your  assurance  that  you  owe  something  to 
your  old  teacher.  Few  echoes  come  to  the  professor  from  those  who  have 
sat  under  his  teachings.  Only  when  a  memorable  occasion  arises  does  he 
learn  how  his  teachings  have  told  on  the  world  and  his  pupils.  The  com- 
pletion of  my  seventieth  year  has  brought  out  many  expressions  of  good 
will  and  many  kindly  remembrances  not  only  from  those  whom  I  have 
trained  for  my  own  calling  but  from  those  who  think  they  owe  more  to 
the  man  than  to  the  Hellenin.  And  if  it  be  a  weakness,  let  it  be  a  weak- 
ness, for  I  prefer  to  be  remembered  as  a  personality  than  as  a  teaching 
machine  of  so  and  so  many  donkey  powers.  I  have  no  quarrel  with  those 
who  have  not  kept  up  their  Greek  studies,  but  those  who  will  recognize 
the  idealism  of  the  School  of  Greek,  I  hold  to  my  heart  as  I  have  ever 
done.  I  have  read  your  letter  to  my  wife  who  pronounces  it  beautiful 
and  who  unites  with  me  in  thanking  you  for  your  tribute  to  your  old 
teacher,  to  whom  you  have  ever  shown  a  loyalty  and  affection  that  are 
exceedingly  precious  in  a  forgetful  world. 

Yours   faithfully, 

B.  L.  GlLDERSLEEVE. 

Since  then,  as  a  feeble  mark  of  personal  appreciation,  I 
sent  him  one  of  my  medical  works,  and  in  acknowledgment 
received  the  following : 

Dear  Dr.  Culbreth:  You  may  not  be  aware  that  in  my  youth  I  had 
seriously  considered  the  study  of  medicine  as  a  profession.  At  college 
there  was  no  course  that  I  enjoyed  so  much  as  the  lectures  on  anatomy 
illustrated  by  a  manakin,  and  I  have  always  had  a  fancy,  though  nothing 
more,  for  botany  and  materia  medica  generally.  So  you  see  that  I  am 
not  altogether  unprepared  to  appreciate  your  valuable  gift,  which  I  expect 
to  consult  very  often.  But  above  all  I  prize  the  manifestation  of  your 
continued  interest  in  me  and  your  kind  remembrances  of  the  old  times. 
Nothing  comforts  me  in  my  old  age  more  than  the  affectionate  regard  of 
my  former  pupils,  and  I  pardon  most  readily  their  exaggerated  estimation 
of  their  obligations  to  me  as  a  teacher.  At  all  events  I  rejoice  in  their 
success  as  if  it  were  my  success,  and  surely  the  fourth  edition  of  a  good 
work  means  success  of  a  high  order.  With  renewed  congratulations,  best 
thanks  and  best  wishes. 

Yours  sincerely, 

B.  L.  GlLDERSLEEVE. 

On  October  i,  1906,  he  had  been  professor  of  Greek  fifty 
years,  an  event  allowed  to  pass  unobserved  until  a  year  later 
—his  seventy-sixth  birthday,  October  23,  1907 — when  he  was 


Professor  John  B.  Minor,  LJv.D.,  at  fifty-eight 
1813-1895 

See  Page  431 


FACING  402 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  403 

accorded  by  his  many  educational  friends  a  befitting  golden 
jubilee.  Teachers  of  Greek  and  other  classical  scholars  con- 
tributed beautiful  testimonials  of  his  life's  worth  and  work, 
while  newspapers  noticed  the  event  at  length  in  the  local 
columns  and  in  brief  editorially.  I  wrote  him  personally, 
receiving  this  reply: 

Dear  Dr.  Culbreth:  Some  years  ago  I  published  a  criticism  of  a  trans- 
lation from  Lucian.  When  I  met  the  translatrix  a  few  months  afterwards, 
she  said  to  me:  "You  reflected  on  my  moral  character  and  bore  lightly  on 
my  Greek.  So  I  suppose  I  must  thank  you  for  I  am  certain  of  my  moral 
character;  of  my  Greek  I  am  not  certain."  Now  I  am  just  the  other  way 
except  that  no  Greek  scholar  is  very  certain  of  his  Greek.  At  any  rate 
I  am  glad  that  in  your  congratulatory  letter  you  emphasize  the  value  of 
my  example,  for  when  we  reach  the  age  of  maturity  we  lay  more  stress 
on  character  than  on  talent.  And  if  my  old  students  think  that  I  have 
exemplified  any  of  the  cardinal  virtues  I  become  reconciled  to  the  part 
I  have  played  despite  the  many  shortcomings  of  which  I  am  conscious. 
Accept  my  best  thanks  for  all  the  kind  words  you  have  written  to  your 
old  teacher  and  friend,  and  all  the  kind  thoughts  you  have  cherished  of 
him  and  his  colleagues  of  the  University  of  Virginia. 

Yours  faithfully, 

B.  L.  GlLDERSLEEVE. 

Of  all  my  teachers,  Professor  Gildersleeve  has  lived  to  gain 
possibly  the  greatest  distinction.  Many  degrees  and  honors 
have  been  conferred  upon  him  by  various  institutions,  and 
to-day  he  undoubtedly  stands  in  our  country  the  leading  ex- 
ponent of  the  Hellenic  tongue.  While  not  following  literally 
the  example  of  the  more  ancient  Greek  scholar — who,  spend- 
ing his  life's  work  on  the  article,  admitted  a  mistake  in  not 
restricting  himself  to  the  dative  case — he  has  been  wise  enough 
to  heed  the  fact  that  no  person  can  do  well  more  than  one 
thing,  consequently  has  adhered  chiefly  to  his  chosen  depart- 
ment, Greek,  allowing  little  mind-diversion  in  pursuing  deeply 
other  avenues  of  knowledge.  This  strong  factor  fails  to  be 
observed  frequently  only  to  lessen  the  possibility  of  renown — 
for  certainly  the  mastery  of  one  crowns  the  slavery  of  many. 


CHAPTER    XXI 
PROFESSORS — PERSONAL  CHARACTERISTICS  AND  TRAITS 

John  William  Mallet— -characteristics  and  traits;  beautiful  lecturer,  accu- 
rate, safe  and  pains-taking  experimenter;  fine  teacher  with  much 
dignity.  George  Frederick  Holmes,  characteristics — tall,  gaunt  Jform ; 
enjoyed  students'  applause,  our  strong  regard  for  him;  a  public  lec- 
turer of  merit.  John  Staige  Davis — personal  traits  and  magnetism, 
brilliant  and  healthful  teacher,  high  sense  of  honor,  facetious  humor, 
kind  and  sympathetic.  James  Lawrence  Cabell — distinguished  per- 
sonality, strong  character,  gifted  intellect,  kind,  knowing  physician ; 
personal  letter.  James  Francis  Harrison — characteristics,  brusque 
mannerism,  popular  with  students  and  in  the  University  management. 

JOHN  WILLIAM  MALLET — Of  the  faculty,  this  professor 
was  the  only  one  of  Irish  birth  and  English  parentage,  and  al- 
though educated  in  his  native  land  and  '  Germany  he  had 
migrated  to  our  country  in  early  manhood  for  the  purpose  of 
teaching  chemistry — that  in  which  he  had  gained  already  a 
world-wide  reputation.  He  possessed,  however,  none  of  the 
more  noticeable  attributes  of  the  typical  Englishman,  as  he 
was  rather  tall  and  slender,  and  without  ruddy  complexion  or 
the  slightest  provincial  dialect.  He  was  about  forty-five  years 
of  age,  six  feet  high,  and  weighed  one  hundred  and  sixty-five 
pounds.  His  face  was  of  the  elongated  type,  covered  mostly 
with  a  good  growth  of  blackish-brown  beard  and  moustache — 
the  former  trimmed  occasionally  to  prevent  unnecessary 
length ;  forehead  broad  and  prominent ;  nose  rather  large  and 
well-shaped;  eyes  clear,  bright  and  bluish-gray;  head  finely 
proportioned,  of  good  size,  held  thoroughly  erect  and  carry- 
ing a  thick  suit  of  brownish-black  hair.  His  voice  was  strong 
and  sufficiently  deep  to  be  rich  and  sonorous ;  language  full  and 
elegant;  manners  easy,  reserved,  positive  and  gentlemanly — 
qualities  that  never  failed  him  during  my  two  years'  contact, 
be  the  provocation  what  it  may.  He  was  dignified,  possibly 
a  trifle  formal,  and  while  kind  to  students  tolerated  not  the 
slightest  familiarity  with  them.  He  stood  and  walked  ab- 
solutely erect,  with  a  quick,  elastic  and  quiet,  almost  noise- 
less, step.  In  conversation  he  was  given  to  smiling  only  when 

404 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  405 

occasion  really  demanded,  which  at  times  ran  into  audible 
laughter,  so  that  with  those  of  his  age  and  liking  he  became 
very  agreeable  and  companionable.  He  was  popular  with 
students  despite  the  dignified  and  unbending  personality,  for  in 
him  we  recognized  a  master  mind  and  hand — such  as  could 
and  would  guide  us  properly,  as  well  as  do  all  that  was 
possible  to  promote  our  interest  and  welfare.  He  received 
from  us  most  universally  the  one  title,  "  Professor  Mallet," 
although  a  few  accepted  occasionally  the  liberty  of,  "  Jack 
Mallet."  He  dressed  well,  in  good  taste  and  quietly,  pre- 
ferring the  cutaway  coat  and  silk  hat. 

In(  spite  of  his  three  children — John,  Robert,  Mary — I 
fancied  the  home  life  more  or  less  retiring,  as  Mrs.  Mallet 
was  understood  not  to  enjoy  perfect  health  or  hearing.  I 
never  called  there,  nor  did  others  I  fancy  unless  specially  in- 
vited, as  this  was  not  necessary  in  order  to  see  the  Professor — 
as  he  spent  all  of  his  time,  except  evenings,  in  the  laboratory 
where  he  had  a  well-ordered  office.  This  was  accessible  to 
all  students  and  here  he  seemed  always  glad  to  see  those  need- 
ing advice  and  assistance,  as  well  as  others  for  a  social  visit 
whenever  time  permitted.  During  the  session,  however,  he 
was  continually  busy,  and  could  spare  few  moments  for  pleas- 
urable diversion,  consequently  when  occasion  demanded  did 
not  hesitate  to  excuse  himself  with  satisfactory  explanation 
and  apology.  So  far  as  in  his  power  he  allowed  nothing  to 
conflict  with  set  duties,  these  being  performed  accurately  with 
the  stroke  of  the  clock.  In  the  class-room  he  was  absolutely 
self-possessed,  serious  and  busy,  never  ceasing  the  conversa- 
tional side  while  performing  experiments,  so  that  from  the 
beginning  to  the  end  of  the  hour  and  a  half  not  the  slightest 
let-up  or  opportunity  occurred  for  playing  soldier.  He  neither 
recognized  nor  accepted  from  himself  failure  in  experiments, 
as  all  such  work  was  verified  carefully  in  advance  of  the  lec- 
ture hour,  and  at  the  conclusion  seemed  always  pleased  to  have 
members  come  up  in  front  of  the  long  table  to  ask  pertinent 
questions  and  to  inspect  the  products  upon  which  he  had  lec- 
tured. Somehow  or  another  we  felt  as  though  behind  the  table 
was  his  own  private  area  upon  which  we  dare  not  trespass, 
but  possibly  there  was  no  ground  for  this,  unless  it  be  after 
the  lecture  on  fulminates  and  other  explosives,  when  for  safety 


406  UNIVERSITY    OF   VIRGINIA 

sake  we  considered  it  best  to  keep  a  respectable  distance.  He 
manifested  no  timidity  in  performing  experiments  attended 
with  most  startling  reports,  or  in  handling  chemicals  that  with 
the  slightest  abuse  would  produce  serious  results;  and  yet  he 
was  careful,  never  over-daring  or  inviting  risk — simply  did 
what  he  regarded  duty  and  necessary  for  the  best  exposition 
of  his  subjects.  He  lectured  without  manuscript,  but  had  ly- 
ing before  him  a  single  sheet  of  legal-cap  paper  containing 
matter  desired,  such  as  headings,  divisions  and  quotations,  and 
beforehand  always  placed  on  the  blackboard  for  class  obser- 
vation and  profit  the  several  needed  formulae  of  reactions,  and 
outline  drawings  of  any  special  apparatus  involved  in  the  pro- 
cess of  manufacture.  Turning  at  a  slight  angle  he  would 
refer  to  these,  in  proper  connection,  with  his  long  pointer, 
often  without  scarcely  moving  from  his  lecturing  position. 
He  was  not  an  orator  or  a  flowery  speaker — one  to  lose  us 
in  the  giddy  maze  of  expression,  as  was  Professor  Smith — 
but  his  clear,  concise  sentences  were  uttered  abundantly  rapid 
and  seriously,  often  precluding  the  taking  down  of  all  in  our 
note-books,  even  though  writing  at  greatest  speed.  He  re- 
iterated nothing — that  which  we  missed  at  the  appointed 
moment  was  gone,  unless  caught  through  conference  or  the 
notes  of  others.  His  usual  custom  was  to  consume  the  first 
half  hour  of  each  lecture  in  calling  the  roll  and  quizzing,  but 
for  one  or  two  months  he  tried  the  experiment  of  lecturing 
twice  a  week  (Monday  and  Wednesday,  II  to  12.30  o'ck.) 
the  full  hour  and  a  half,  devoting  the  entire  third  period  (Fri- 
day) to  a  general  quiz.  This  I  personally  did  not  like  so  well, 
as  it  gave  less  variety,  and  required  such  continued  high  ten- 
sion, each  after  its  kind,  and  as  this  no  doubt  was  universal, 
the  innovation  possibly  has  long  since  ceased  to  prevail. 

He  was  Americanized  to  the  extent  of  appreciating  a  joke 
or  pun,  at  which  when  of  merit  he  laughed  heartily.  I  will 
never  forget  how  I  placed  (misplaced)  him  one  afternoon 
while  quizzing  me  on  the  early  industrial  process  of  calico 
printing,  wherein  wooden  blocks  a  foot  square,  with  raised 
metal  design  attached  to  the  under  surface  carrying  the  proper 
colored  dye  (ink),  were  placed  together  with  art  and  pre- 
cision upon  plain  fabric,  then  hammered  gently  to  make  cer- 
tain a  perfect  impression.  Instead  of  repeating  him  verba- 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  407 

tim,  "  tapping  the  blocks  gently  with  a  hammer,"  I  substituted, 
"  tapping  the  blocks  with  a  little  mallet,"  whereupon  the  class 
quickly  accepted  the  pun  with  a  ripple  that  aroused  his  own 
sense  of  humor.  It  was  seldom,  however,  that  he  sanctioned 
in  class-room  the  slightest  notice  of  anything  irregular — a  di- 
version, inattention  or  noise — as  he  considered  all  such  marked 
evidence  of  disrespect,  and  no  one  felt  sufficiently  great  unto 
himself,  or  defiant,  to  antagonize  his  pleasure,  or  the  will  of 
the  large  majority  that  invariably  supported  him.  In  the  lab- 
oratory he  was  extremely  precise,  methodical,  industrious  and 
punctual,  and  in  all  others  under  him  he  expected  the  same 
good  qualities,  or  a  serious  endeavor  in  that  direction.  Here 
he  was  quick  in  movement  and  thought,  giving  suggestions 
and  reasons  in  terse  language,  tolerating  in  himself  and  others 
nothing  except  work^but  notwithstanding  was  of  easy  ap- 
proach and  friendly.  His  assistant,  Professor  Dunnington, 
assumed  general  charge  of  us,  who  as  an  intermediary  left 
little  need  of  direct  contact  unless  for  personal  and  specific 
reasons.  In  fact  Professor  Mallet  remained  nearly  all  the 
time  in  his  own  private  laboratory,  entering  therefrom  the 
general  laboratory  only  occasionally  each  day,  and  then  for 
the  briefest  period.  The  proximity  of  the  two  laboratories — 
separated  by  a  thin  wall  with  communicating  door  often  left 
open — served  to  preserve  the  greatest  order  and  quietness 
among  the  students,  for  none  wished  to  annoy  or  disturb  him 
in  his  continuous  painstaking  work.  I  remember  in  making 
a  large  alcoholic  thermometer  when  sealing  the  end  finally, 
the  bulb  burst  with  a  loud  report,  only  to  bring  him  to  the 
spot  in  an  instant  to  inquire  the  cause  and  possible  damage. 
Nothing  beyond  the  ordinary  could  go  on  in  his  domain  to 
which  he  was  insensible — a  fact  we  soon  observed  and  accepted 
as  a  powerful  influence  toward  forcing  us  to  make  the  best 
of  golden  moments. 

Since  leaving  the  University  I  have  seen  Professor  Mallet 
several  times — indeed  attended  a  course  of  his  popular  lectures 
at  the  Johns  Hopkins  University — when  always  a  pleasant 
memory  and  recognition  was  evinced  for  his  old  student.  My 
last  conversation  was  in  his  laboratory  a  few  years  ago,  where 
I  found  him  in  the  midst  of  work  and  apparently  at  a  time  he 
could  ill-afford  more  than  a  few  moments,  but  these  he  will- 


4o8  UNIVERSITY    OF   VIRGINIA 

ingly  gave,  taking  occasion  to  acquaint  me  with  some  of  the 
changes  and  improvements  going  on  in  his  specific  department. 

GEORGE  FREDERICK  HOLMES — This  gentleman  was  an  Eng- 
lish subject,  being  born,  however,  at  Demerara,  British  Guiana, 
and  might  readily  have  been  taken  for  a  foreigner  or  some 
native  eccentric  personage.  He  was  tall,  lean  and  lank — more 
so  than  any  member  of  the  Faculty,  although  Dr.  Cabell  shared 
honors  in  height — and  of  all  seemed  to  give  the  greatest  evi- 
dence of  years,  in  spite  of  his  accepted  uniform  good  health. 
He  was  fifty-five  years  of  age,  about  six  feet  one  inch  high, 
and  weighed  one  hundred  and  fifty  pounds.  His  face  was 
long  and  angular,  but  covered  with  a  growth  of  grayish-black 
beard  and  moustache ;  hair  of  similar  color,  abundant  and  worn 
long;  forehead  bold  and  high;  mouth  large  with  firmly  ap- 
pressed  lips;  nose  thin  and  of  the  Roman  type;  eyes  deeply 
seated,  large  and  prominent  but  not  strong — one  more  affected 
than  the  other — and  reinforced  by  gold  spectacles,  which  al- 
ways were  wiped  carefully,  without  losing  time,  when  begin- 
ning and  several  times  during  lecture;  voice  strong  and  pene- 
trating, becoming  at  times  a  little  thick  and  husky,  but  used 
frequently  with  fine  effect  approximating  oratory.  His  sub- 
jects, History,  Literature  and  Rhetoric,  gave  opportunity  and 
range  for  the  higher  qualities  of  the  speaker,  and  realizing  this 
he  endeavored  successfully  to  measure  up  to  the  possibilities. 
He  appeared  always  in  a  slight  hurry,  as  though  never  allow- 
ing sufficient  time  for  various  duties  and  diversions,  but  this 
may  have  been  second  nature,  acquired  through  necessity  of 
excessive  work  in  editing  his  various  books,  which  were  ap- 
pearing then  one  after  another  as  fast  as  he  could  do  the  com- 
piling. He  was  rather  careless  in  mode  of  dress,  as  to  both 
fit  and  fashion,  wearing  usually  a  cutaway  coat  of  longish 
skirt,  poorly  shaped  pantaloons,  low  crowned  soft  black  hat, 
turn-down  collar  and  the  thinnest  apology  of  hand-tied  cravats. 
But  when  attired  for  special  functions,  in  full-dress  or  frock 
coat  and  silk  hat,  made  an  appearance  highly  creditable. 

He  invariably  came  into  the  class-room,  Rotunda  basement, 
to  the  left  (west),  having  under  arm  or  in  hand  several  his- 
toric or  classical  works,  and  a  somewhat  worn,  medium  size 
note-book  containing  his  own  annotations,  commentaries  and 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  409 

memoranda — not  any  completely  written  lecture,  simply  the 
skeleton  or  brief  portions.  He  usually  greeted  his  classes  with 
a  smile,  wiped  his  eyes  and  glasses,  adjusted  the  latter,  and  at 
once  called  the  roll  in  a  serious  manner,  yet  never  refusing 
anything  susceptible  of  a  little  fun.  Thus  I  recall  the  rhyme 
he  made  one  morning  at  the  expense  of  Mr.  Berlin,  who  fre- 
quently came  in  late  or  not  at  all.  Every  name  was  preceded 
by  Mister,  so  having  called  "  Mister  Berlin  "  with  no  response, 
he  quickly  added,  giving  a  twinkle  of  the  eye  and  a  smile,  "  He 
is  not  in."  Of  course  not  being  given  to  such  crude  liberty 
with  euphony,  we  all  accepted  it  with  a  decided  outburst,  evi- 
dently to  his  satisfaction.  It  is  unnecessary  to  add  that  for 
several  weeks  thereafter  the  calling  of  that  gentleman's  name 
evoked  some  little  disturbance  of  normal  quietness.  In  class- 
room Professor  Holmes  wasted  no  time,  making  every  moment 
count  for  something — chiefly  discussions  and  criticisms  of  sub- 
jects under  review,  in  which  we  often  failed  to  see  value  or 
take  interest.  Although  highly  educated — indeed,  a  fine 
scholar — I  did  not  consider  him  a  teacher  of  the  highest  order, 
as  in  quizzing  he  extenuated  errors  in  a  canny  manner  and 
often  became  so  enraptured  with  his  subject  while  lecturing 
as  to  lose  sight  of  minor  violations  of  class  decorum.  His 
lectures  were  severely  didactic,  containing  much  for  which  he 
did  not  hold  us  accountable,  and  a  great  deal  to  be  found  in 
books — it  is  true  differently  expressed  and  often  from  new 
viewpoints.  Of  course  even  this  quality  was  highly  commend- 
able, as  it  required  great  intuition  and  research  to  deduce 
through  reading  and  judgment  sufficient  knowledge  to  solve 
accurately  doubtful  literary  problems — such  as  the  personality 
of  Shakespeare;  whether  his  reputed  writings  were  his  own 
product,  or  that  of  Bacon  or  some  other  Solon,  etc.  It  was 
questions  of  this  character  he  delighted  to  unfathom — to  be 
convinced  of  absolute  correctness — and  to  proclaim  the  results 
with  methods  by  which  obtained.  He  was  a  great  believer  in 
and  searcher  for  truth,  sparing  no  time  and  toil  to  reveal  it. 
He  was  rather  a  rapid  speaker,  warming  up  to  the  demands 
as  he  advanced  in  the  subject,  and  seemed  delighted  to  hold 
students  somewhat  spellbound  as  they  took  in  quietly  what  he 
said.  He  appreciated  a  recognition  of  his  efforts  by  others — 
a  very  common  element  in  man's  nature — consequently  there 


4io  UNIVERSITY    OF   VIRGINIA 

was  more  demonstration  and  noisy  punctuation  of  well- 
rounded  sentences  and  brilliant  thoughts  in  his  classes  than 
in  any  others.  On  such  occasions,  and  they  were  many,  no 
one  can  fail  recalling,  after  a  continuous  round  of  applause, 
how  prone  he  was  to  hold  up  his  right  hand  and  smile — a 
modest  invocation  for  silence,  not  always  heeded  until  good 
and  ready,  especially  when  the  cause  was  rich  and  deserving. 
There  was  very  little  note-taking  under  him,  possibly  less  than 
with  any  other  professor,  as  we  had  specific  text-books  that 
could  be  followed  satisfactorily  and  considered  the  lectures 
simply  an  elucidation  or  extenuation  of  their  contents.  But 
as  a  matter  of  fact  his  lectures  supplemented  much  that  was 
important  and  pertinent  to  places,  persons,  scenes,  dates  and 
writings,  which,  if  retained,  would  have  been  useful  and  help- 
ful to  our  general  store  of  knowledge.  There  was,  however, 
so  much  in  the  course,  that  most  of  us  gladly  escaped  the  re- 
tention of  non-essentials  for  graduation  even  though  know- 
ingly we  became  the  weaker  thereby.  Owing  to  this  fact  and 
his  seeming  indifference  (?)  there  was  more  inattention  and 
whispering  in  his  lectures  than  those  of  other  professors,  for, 
unlike  them,  he  became  so  engrossed,  self-centered  and  obliv- 
ious to  external  doings  as  to  continue  talking  despite  the 
usual  disturbing  conditions.  Sometimes,  however,  he  would 
awake  to  the  occasion,  pause,  scan  the  room  from  over  his 
spectacles,  only  thereafter  to  receive  perfect  respect  and  order. 
Thus  it  was  we  happily  knew  how  far  to  go — simply  awaited 
his  alarm  to  stop — and  dared  to  overstep  his  pleasure-mark. 

While  he  often  found  out  what  we  knew,  or  did  not  know, 
in  his  department  by  the  regular  process  of  examination  and 
quizzing — that  which  he  continually  exercised — we  none  could 
judge  his  attainments  in  the  various  subjects  he  taught.  They 
were  so  comprehensive  as  to  demand  study  along  many  lines, 
and  in  any  one  he  had  given  little  that  ever  reached  our  youth- 
ful hands  suggesting  great  mastery.  So  far  as  we  were  con- 
cerned a  very  good  small  History  of  the  United  States,  a 
commendable  Series  of  Readers,  and  an  average  English 
Grammar  marked  his  authorship — such  as  in  our  opinion 
might  have  been  compiled  by  one  of  less  reputed  talent.  His 
voluminous  writings  and  criticisms  in  educational  journals, 
encyclopaedias,  and  standard  works  were  either  then  unknown, 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  411 

inaccessible  or  unappreciated  by  us.  The  gift  of  repeating 
from  memory  the  stronger  parts  of  famous  compositions — 
orations,  poems,  dramas  and  tragedies — seemed  to  us  almost 
essential  to  one  occupying  the  chair,  but  all  such  Professor 
Holmes  felt  satisfied  in  simply  reading.  He  even  rarely  gave 
the  shorter  familiar  quotations — that  which  might  have  rea- 
sonably been  expected  from  one  of  rare  literary  taste  and 
ability.  Somehow  I  always  believed  the  theme  or  creative 
cause — historic  side  of  a  work — appealed  more  to  him  than 
the  language  or  style  employed.  I  knew  several  ladies  at- 
tending Mrs.  Long's  school,  Charlottesville,  where  a  portion 
of  their  weekly  work  was — assigning  the  correct  authorship  to 
a  number  of  quotations,  each  a  line  or  two.  Sometimes  I  was 
applied  to  for  assistance,  and  whenever  the  various  "  Quota- 
tion Works  "  in  the  Library  failed  to  help  me,  I  would  after 
class  ask  Professor  Holmes,  and  he  was  never  able — possibly 
inclined — to  give  me  any  light  beyond :  "  It  sounds  a  little 
like  so  and  so."  Usually  he  would  say  frankly :  "  I  do  not 
know — you  cannot  tell  where  to  find  a  thing  unless  you  have 
seen  it  there."  This  struck  me  as  strange,  coming  from  one 
of  his  reputation  and  position,  but  possibly  I  expected  too 
much.  He  might  have  offered  to  help  me  out,  yet  this  even 
he  never  did,  in  spite  of  my  enjoying  his  friendship  in  extent 
equal  to  other  class-members.  For  this  I  gave  him  no  cen- 
sure, but  accepted  it  to  imply  a  lack  of  interest  in  matters  out- 
side of  his  course,  an  extremely  busy  life,  and  a  thoughtless- 
ness in  extending  a  helping  hand  to  others.  While  this  char- 
acteristic failed  to  win  hearts  or  to  make  him  a  favorite  pro- 
fessor, it  did  not  create  enemies — simply  called  forth  from  us 
all  moderate  respect.  We  had  to  accept  him  as  a  fine  critic, 
a  close  and  painstaking  student,  a  widely  and  thoughtfully 
read  scholar. 

I  fancy  he  lived  simply  and  prudently — eating  to  live  rather 
than  living  to  eat — and  therefore  required  little  exercise,  that 
which  he  seldom  accepted  unless  indoors,  as  he  was  seen  rarely 
on  the  street  outside  of  duty's  demand.  He  seldom  attended 
the  Chapel  services  at  which  I  was  present,  but  that  was  con- 
doned from  the  fact  of  us  students  understanding  incorrectly 
him  to  be  a  Romanist,  therefore  adverse  to  Protestant  creed — 
that  which  was  not  true,  as  he  was  an  Episcopalian. 


4i2  UNIVERSITY    OF   VIRGINIA 

His  home,  third  pavilion  from  the  Rotunda,  East  Lawn,  was 
not  recognized  in  my  day  a  strong  factor  in  the  University 
social  life,  although  the  youngest  daughter,  Miss  Bell,  still 
enjoyed  favor  with  a  certain  few  and  entertained  to  a  limited 
extent.  It  was  here  that  R.  M.  T.  Hunter  (Finals  of  1875) 
and  Ralph  Waldo  Emerson  (Finals  of  1876)  were  cared  for 
pleasantly  while  visiting  the  University,  and  in  whose  honor 
beautiful  receptions  and  other  functions  were  given — that  to 
Mr.  and  Miss  Emerson  being  so  over-crowded  as  almost  to 
defy  admission.  The  University  certainly  had  a  faithful  and 
efficient  servant  in  Professor  Holmes,  who  proudly  endeavored 
to  extend  her  creditable  reputation  and  add  to  her  good  name. 
By  his  teaching,  readers,  grammars,  histories,  criticisms  and 
other  writings  he  became  widely  and  favorably  known,  often 
receiving  and  accepting  invitations,  carrying  adequate  com- 
pensation, to  deliver  courses  of  lectures  in  other  institutions. 
After  an  association  of  forty  years  he  died  at  the  University, 
November  4,  1897,  and  at  his  request  was  buried  at  the  Old 
Sweet  Springs  by  the  wife's  side,  causing  deep  regret  that  his 
bones  should  fail  to  repose  in  that  sacred  enclosure  hard  by  the 
spot  he  spent  so  much  of  life,  giving  to  the  world  his  richest, 
best  and  fullest  energies. 

JOHN  STAIGE  DAVIS — While  I  cannot  claim  a  strong  inti- 
macy with  this  Professor,  taking  in  his  department  only 
materia  medica — one  lecture  a  week  for  two-thirds  of  a  ses- 
sion, 1876-77 — yet  every  now  and  then  throughout  my  Uni- 
versity course  I  received  his  medical  advice  and  treatment,  a 
service  that  brought  a  kindly  fellowship  and  a  grateful  heart. 
Indeed,  no  one  could  come  in  touch  with  him  for  the  briefest 
period  without  feeling  impressed  with  his  personality — those 
striking  characteristics  that  make  the  true  man.  Although 
deep  in  his  power  of  apprehension,  penetration,  absorption  and 
retention,  yet  he  was  no  enigma  to  others,  as  they  could  un- 
derstand and  comprehend  readily  his  manly  nature.  He  pos- 
sessed nothing  hidden  or  secretive,  but  his  ambitions,  desires, 
intentions,  hopes  and  methods  were  held  in  the  open — figura- 
tively, "  worn  upon  the  sleeve."  Whatever  was  equitable,  hon- 
orable, just,  right  and  best  for  all  concerned— not  for  himself 
alone — was  advocated  always  by  him,  in  fact  written  legibly 


Professor  Noah  K.  Davis,  LJy.D.,  at  sixty 
1830— 

See  page  436 


FACING  412 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  413 

in  his  face.  One  had  only  to  inquire  of  himself  the  truth — 
not  superficial — and  merits  of  a  given  case  or  condition  in 
order  to  predict  the  attitude  of  Professor  Davis  towards  it. 
He  was,  like  all  wide-awake,  observant  men,  thoroughly  con- 
versant with  the  corrupt  doings  of  his  day,  and  fully  realized 
that  thereby  many  seemingly  benefited  and  prospered,  but  that 
was  no  incentive  for  him  to  emulate  the  example — if  anything 
it  stimulated  him  all  the  more  to  tread  the  narrow  path  of 
strict  integrity  and  morality.  Of  course  he  liked  money,  but 
not  in  the  prevailing  spirit  of  to-day — whether  obtained  by 
methods  questionable  or  otherwise — consequently  he  could  not 
have  been  tempted  into  any  kind  of  transaction  savoring  of 
indirectness,  that  which  happily  his  intuition  was  sufficiently 
acute  to  detect  and  to  vouchsafe  always  a  high  sense  of  honor. 
I  never  saw  a  person  more  eager  to  discharge  what  he  con- 
ceived to  be  the  whole  duty — not  a  part — and  this  alone  made 
him  a  very  careful,  painstaking  imparter  of  knowledge,  never 
being  satisfied  with  his  part  until  it  was  comprehended  and 
mastered  properly  by  his  students.  He  was  just  fifty-two 
years  of  age,  well-proportioned  and  compactly  built,  about  five 
feet  nine  inches  high,  and  one  hundred  and  sixty  pounds  in 
weight.  His  face  was  full  and  smooth,  with  determined  verti- 
cal upper  lip  and  strong  angular  lower  jaw;  forehead  broad, 
full,  vertical  and  high;  nose  of  good  size  and  outline;  hair 
abundant  and  dark ;  voice  rather  fine,  soft  and  effeminate,  but 
agreeable,  penetrating  and  with  volume;  language  concise, 
clear,  never  over-abundant,  but  beautifully  expressive  and  ex- 
planatory; manners  courtly,  affable  and  friendly — never  fa- 
miliar. His  dress  was  plain,  neat  and  fresh — mostly  black 
suits,  sack  or  cutaway  coats,  turn-down  collars,  soft  felt  or 
straw  hats.  In  meeting  him  casually  one  would  not  probably 
feel  himself  in  the  presence  of  more  than  an  average  indi- 
vidual, as  his  general  appearance  and  behavior  suggested  little 
other  than  the  polished,  refined  gentleman — never  aiming  at 
personal  show  or  advantage.  Indeed,  he  was  a  modest  and 
retiring  man  with  mild,  precise  speech,  but  in  thought  and  ex- 
pression how  different! — aggressive,  impressive,  concise,  orig- 
inal, incisive,  witty  and  sarcastic — sarcasm,  however,  not 
willingly  intended  to  injure  or  offend,  but  which  sometimes 
left  momentarily  a  sting  upon  the  deserving  and  extremely 


4i4  UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA 

sensitive.  This  truly  was  a  natural  gift,  one,  in  spite  of  fall- 
ing occasionally  on  unwonted  soil,  to  discomfort  the  few,  that 
made  no  enemies  and  always  brought  some  amusement  to  the 
many.  There  seemed  no  better  place  than  the  class-room  for 
giving  vent  to  this  proclivity,  where  alone  most  of  us  chanced 
to  meet  it,  and  we  invariably  expected  some  manifestation, 
especially  when  quizzing.  On  one  occasion  I  remember  he 
asked  a  stalwart  Texan  the  dose  of  digitalis  tincture,  and 
upon  getting  the  reply — one  to  two  tablespoon fuls — simply  re- 
torted :  "  Alas,  doctors  will  differ."  Again  upon  inquiring 
the  treatment  for  aconite  poisoning,  and  receiving  a  lengthy 
preamble  with  a  hesitation,  he  queried:  "  Well,  what  next?  " 
Whereupon  the  young  man  continued  to  a  finish,  when  the 
Professor  remarked :  "  Oh,  indeed,  no  need  for  that,  you 
would  already  have  caused  a  funeral."  Again  when  asking 
the  dose  of  croton  oil  he  received  the  reply — one  to  two  tea- 
spoonfuls — and  with  uplifted  hands  coupled  with  an  expres- 
sion of  sad  disappointment,  if  not  disgust,  he  quietly  remarked : 
"  In  this  class  we  have  no  reference  to  lower  animals — that 
quantity  would  even  make  a  goat  pass  its  horns."  This  type 
of  incorrect  answers  doomed  the  perpetrators  for  that  day,  as, 
without  further  interrogation,  they  were  allowed  to  rest  on 
their  laurels — sad  object  lessons  for  themselves  and  fellow 
classmates.  These  terse,  pithy  remarks  served  as  caustic  rep- 
rimands, and,  beyond  avoiding  a  waste  of  time  at  correction 
and  discussion,  forced  the  lame  to  seek  out  for  themselves  at 
the  first  opportunity  correct  knowledge,  driving  it  home  not 
soon  to  be  forgotten.  He  never  referred  by  word  or  act  to 
any  of  the  "  flings  "  passed,  but  met  us  afterwards  in  the  same 
urbane  manner  that  characterized  his  life — just  as  though 
nothing  beyond  the  ordinary  had  occurred.  In  no  place  did  he 
show  to  greater  advantage  than  the  sick-chamber,  where  it 
was  my  lot — unfortunately  several  times  at  examination  sea- 
son— to  fall  under  his  care.  One  could  not  forget,  even  with 
effort,  his  easy  manner,  beautiful  sympathy  and  paternal  watch- 
fulness at  the  bedside — always  bright,  kind,  cheery,  talkative, 
encouraging  and  inspiring — causing  joy  at  the  coming,  sorrow 
at  the  going.  The  middle  of  one  June  I  found  myself  with 
headache,  fever  and  lost  appetite,  and,  without  knowing  or 
sending  for  the  physician  in  charge,  marched  over  to  the  In- 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  415 

firmary,  related  my  troubles  to  the  matron,  Mrs.  Brown — a 
very  sweet,  affable,  oldish  lady,  ideal  for  the  position  and 
known  to  me  through  former  tender  manifestations — and  re- 
quested a  room  as  well  as  medical  attention.  In  the  natural 
sequence  of  duty  it  happened  to  be  Dr.  Davis's  month,  who 
upon  entering  my  door  first  inquired :  "  How  did  you  get 
over  here?  who  told  you  to  come?  "  Both  speech  and  attitude 
were  as  though  somewhat  aggrieved — that  his  prerogative 
had  not  properly  been  observed — but  when  I  appealingly 
looked  him  in  the  face  with  the  reply,  "  Don't  criticise  the 
liberty  taken,  Doctor,  I  am  so  sick,"  his  entire  mannerism 
changed,  so  that  in  a  moment  he  was  feeling  pulse,  looking  at 
tongue  and  seeking  other  diagnostic  symptoms.  It  proved 
only  a  case  of  remittent  fever  aggravated  by  the  prevailing  hot 
weather,  consequently  ten  days  saw  me  well  and  out  again. 
During  one  of  the  "  Finals  "  we  chanced  to  meet  on  East 
Lawn,  near  the  Rotunda,  when  he  stopped  me  to  say  he  had 
mutual  friends,  Whiteleys,  stopping  with  him  for  the  occasion 
who  would  be  glad  to  see  me.  Later  in  the  day  I  received  a 
written  invitation  to  a  function  on  the  morrow,  4  o'ck,  P.  M., 
after  which  he  placed  the  word — sharp.  Few  men  ever  lived 
who  observed  and  desired  promptness  more  than  he,  and,  real- 
izing the  average  youth's  proneness  to  violate  the  social  law 
of  time  by  five  or  ten  minutes,  he  did  not  hesitate  to  emphasize 
the  hour  of  engagement. 

He  enjoyed  far  more  than  a  local  reputation,  received  solici- 
tations for  city  practice,  and  invitations  to  join  Faculties  of 
other  medical  institutions,  but  all  such  were  declined  invari- 
ably on  the  ground  that  he  was  doing  good  and  satisfactory 
work,  was  happy  and  contented,  and  his  own  University 
needed  him  most.  I  met  him  for  the  last  time  in  the  summer 
of  1 88 1  at  the  Rockbridge  Alum  Springs,  where  he  was  the 
resident  physician  and  had  been  for  many  years.  Having 
our  party  of  young  friends  and  seeming  plenty  to  pass  the  few 
weeks  together  pleasantly  I  neglected  to  call  at  his  cottage  the 
first  few  days,  and  did  not  see  him  until  one  morning  we  found 
ourselves  on  the  same  path  approaching  each  other.  At  once 
he  extended  his  hand  with  the  query :  "  Why  have  you  not 
been  to  see  us  ?  "  His  recognition  was  so  cordial  that  for  the 
moment  I  was  confused  into  admitting  the  truth,  "  Well,  Doc- 


4i6  UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA 

tor,  I  thought  you  had  long  since  lost  sight  of  me  in  the  mul- 
titude of  students  and  that  it  would  be  a  kindness  not  to 
annoy  you  unnecessarily."  At  this  he  disclaimed  the  possi- 
bility of  such  forgetfulness,  became  a  trifle  generous  with 
pleasant  memories  of  the  past  and  insistent  upon  seeing  much 
of  me  during  my  stay.  It  is  scarcely  necessary  to  say  that 
thereafter  we  came  together  frequently,  always  to  interchange 
kindly  greetings  and  congenial  thoughts  that  made  me  feel  the 
better. 

His  life  was  cut  off  unfortunately  in  the  midst  of  its  greatest 
activity,  after  having  served  the  University  he  so  much  loved 
twenty-nine  years,  as  professor  of  anatomy  and  materia 
medica.  He  died  July  17,  1885,  in  his  sixty-first  year,  and 
was  buried  in  the  University  Cemetery  near  by  many  faithful 
friends  and  co-laborers,  within  the  sound  of  the  bell  that  ever 
continues  to  summon  ambitious  students  to  the  same  old  sub- 
jects he  so  ably  taught. 

JAMES  LAWRENCE  CABELL — Some  days  after  entering  the 
University  I  began  to  feel  more  or  less  languid,  and,  in  spite 
of  symptoms  differing  somewhat,  to  apprehend  intermittent 
fever — that  which  in  the  autumn  was  so  prevalent  around  my 
home,  and  in  previous  years  had  given  me  no  little  annoy- 
ance. Another  more  hopeful  solution  of  the  malady  was  that 
due  to  climatic  differences,  such  as  was  to  be  apprehended — 
indeed,  previously  commented  upon — in  going  southward  for 
the  first  time.  As  days  brought  no  relief  and  as  my  many 
duties  demanded  a  sound  mind  in  a  sound  body,  I  determined 
to  seek  medical  advice,  and  upon  learning  that  Dr.  Cabell  was 
the  visiting  physician  for  October,  hastened  one  morning 
shortly  after  breakfast  to  his  office — first  door  south  of  his 
home,  first  pavilion  from  the  Rotunda,  East  Lawn.  I  had 
never  seen  him  before,  and  though  a  stranger,  he  was  not 
long  in  removing  all  incidental  feeling  by  friendly  talk  and 
interest  in  me.  He  inquired  minutely  concerning  my  home, 
State,  family,  and  finally  myself,  with  the  conclusion  that  my 
symptoms  were  of  the  trouble  surmised — malarial  and  atmos- 
pheric. He  cleared  the  primes  vice,  prescribed  additionally 
a  dozen  quinine  pills  and  a  half-ounce  of  Fowler's  Solution,  to 
be  taken  in  five-drop  doses  with  a  little  water,  three  times 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  417 

daily — remarking  it  was  poisonous  and  the  quantity  must  not 
be  exceeded.  I  followed  his  directions  to  speedy  cure,  and 
the  circumstance  has  always  remained  vivid  from  it  being 
my  initiative  need  of  a  physician's  care — all  previous  ailments 
having  been  simple  and  amenable  to  mother's  treatment.  In- 
deed, she  was  not  only  a  kindly  nurse,  but  possessed  fair  ac- 
quaintance with  medicines  and  diseases — children  and  adult 
— causing  others  besides  myself  to  have  abiding  faith  in  her 
powers.  After  this  event  Dr.  Cabell  and  I  always  knew  each 
other,  although  likely  he  failed  to  carry  my  name  until  sub- 
sequent circumstances  made  it  more  impressive.  We  saw  each 
other  quite  often  to  exchange  courteous  recognition,  occa- 
sionally to  enjoy  short  conversation,  but  I  had  no  need  for 
him  professionally  until  three  years  later,  when,  injuring  my 
foot  and  hand  in  the  gymnasium,  I  again  called  at  his  office 
for  medical  advice — that  which  he  cheerfully  gave,  with 
speedy  curative  results. 

Dr.  Cabell  was  in  his  early  sixties,  six  feet  one  inch  high, 
and  weighed  one  hundred  and  eighty  pounds.  His  face  was 
smooth  except  a  suit  of  well-clipped  whitish  side  whiskers 
that  gave  him  a  resemblance  to  Mr.  Chauncey  M.  Depew.  He 
was  particular  in  keeping  the  rest  of  his  face  cleanly  shaven, 
thereby  showing  a  healthy  florid  complexion.  His  nose  was 
of  good  size  and  shape ;  forehead  broad  and  high ;  hair  scarce 
and  whitish ;  voice  clear,  sonorous,  and  agreeable — used  with 
deliberation  and  impressiveness ;  manners  quiet,  affable,  digni- 
fied, gentlemanly — inspiring;  language  full,  precise,  elegant — 
forceful;  dress  neat  and  becoming,  usually  black — frock  coat 
and  silk  hat.  By  us  students  he  was  recognized  to  be  one  of 
the  most  scholarly  members  of  the  Faculty — capable  of  teach- 
ing acceptably  any  branch  of  medicine  and  several  in  the  de- 
partment of  letters.  Upon  the  death  of  Professor  McGuffey 
he  took  partial  charge  of  the  course  during  the  remainder  of 
the  session — the  honor  being  shared  by  Rev.  T.  D.  Wither- 
spoon,  our  chaplain,  one  of  the  previous  year's  creditable  grad- 
uates in  that  department. 

Dr.  Cabell  was  a  persistent  reader  and  a  close  student  of 
all  matters  educational,  contenting  himself  not  alone  with 
medicine — far  less  with  his  branches,  physiology  and  surgery. 
His  mind  was  retentive  and  elastic,  making  him  a  veritable 


4i8  UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA 

store-house  of  knowledge — that  which  coupled  with  a  delight- 
ful personality  assured  at  all  times  and  places  a  position  of 
respect,  power  and  eminence.  His  distinguished  appearance, 
fine  address  and  magnetism  caused  the  more  observant  of 
multitudes  to  inquire  his  name,  while  those  who  came  in  close 
contact  were  impressed  by  his  strong  individuality  and  gath- 
ered inspiration  from  his  manly  character.  He  seemingly  pos- 
sessed few  weak  points — none  but  what  was  servile  to  judg- 
ment— and  revealed  the  highest  type  of  the  old-time  gentle- 
man. The  medical  students  thought  him  a  very  exacting 
teacher  and  believed  he  only  showed  mercy  when  demanded 
by  unqualified  justice.  How  far  this  was  true  I  am  not  pre- 
pared to  say,  but  one  thing  is  certain,  that  he  and  Dr.  Davis 
were  faithful  watchdogs  of  their  diploma's  sanctity — seeing 
that  no  one  undeserving  possessed  it.  I  distinctly  recall  one 
second-year  applicant  for  graduation  receiving  several  weeks 
after  his  intermediate  examination  in  surgery  a  note  from  Dr. 
Cabell,  stating  his  failure  and  expressing  surprise  at  one  of 
his  mental  caliber  thinking  he  could  ever  take  a  degree  in 
medicine  at  the  University.  This  so  incensed  the  young  man 
that  he  left  at  once  and  finished  his  medical  training  elsewhere 
a  year  later.  Thus  the  courtly  Cabell  could  say  offensive 
things,  absolutely  without  varnish,  when  he  believed  the  end 
justified  the  means. 

The  last  time  I  met  him  was  in  the  summer  of  1882,  when 
coming  from  the  White  Sulphur  Springs,  he  joined  our  train 
at  Covington,  having  previously  secured  in  our  sleeper  a  berth 
near  my  own.  He  was  on  his  way  from  the  Hot  Springs  to 
Washington  in  connection  with  duties  incident  to  the  Na- 
tional Board  of  Health,  of  which  he  then  was  president.  The 
hour  was  late,  permitting  only  a  short  talk,  but  he  gave  no 
evidence  of  weakened  faculties — still  preserved  the  quick- 
movement  and  undaunted  energy  characterizing  him  during 
my  University  days,  such  as  belonged  to  one  of  more  youth- 
ful years.  On  December  21,  1887,  he  completed  his  fifty 
years  of  continued  service  as  "  professor  of  physiology  and 
surgery  "  in  the  University,  and  as  a  memorial  of  the  event 
and  a  tribute  to  his  distinguished  labors  for  universal  sound 
medical  education  his  old  pupils,  representing  thirty  States 
and  countries,  and  his  colleagues,  presented  to  him  a  beau- 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  419 

tiful  and  costly  golden  goblet,  appropriately  inscribed,  accom- 
panied by  a  congratulatory  address.  His  pupils  of  that  ses- 
sion did  not  let  the  event  pass  unnoticed — sending  him  a  hand- 
some cylindrical  escritoire  as  a  token  of  respect  and  confidence. 
In  February,  1889,  I  received  a  letter  from  Mrs.  Mattie 
M.  Minor,  asking  a  donation  for  completing  the  University 
Chapel,  with  the  request  that  any  contribution  be  forwarded 
to  Dr.  Cabell.  I  enclosed  with  check  a  personal  letter,  to 
which  the  following  is  a  reply: 

UNIVERSITY  OF  VIRGINIA,  February  26,  1889. 

Dear  Doctor  Culbreth:  Your  favor  of  the  23rd  ins.,  enclosing  your 
check  for  ten  dollars  as  a  contribution  to  the  new  Chapel  at  the  University, 
and  generously  offering  to  make  a  further  subscription  in  a  certain  con- 
tingency, was  duly  received  yesterday  afternoon.  The  check  has  been 
turned  over  to  the  Ladies  Chapel  Aid  Society,  and  I  am  authorized  to 
convey  to  you  their  grateful  thanks  for  your  actual  contribution,  for  the 
promise  of  further  aid  if  such  should  be  needed,  and  last  but  by  no  means 
least  for  your  generous  expressions  of  filial  devotion  to  Alma  Mater  and 
of  your  purpose  to  do  all  in  your  power  to  advance  her  interest.  In  all  of 
this  I  cordially  join,  and  am  with  sincere  regard, 

Yours  truly  and  faithfully, 
J.  L.  CABELL, 

Treas.  University  Chapel  Fund. 

Dr.  Cabell  did  not  long  survive  this  period,  for  owing  to 
impaired  health  he  retired  from  active  professorial  duties  the 
following  June,  having  by  the  Visitors  been  given  an  efficient 
assistant,  Dr.  Paul  B.  Barringer,  who  had  been  trained  by  him 
as  well  as  abroad.  Unfortunately,  however,  Dr.  Cabell  did 
not  survive  to  give  form  and  fashion  to  his  work  in  another's 
hands,  as  he  died  August  I3th,  at  Morven,  his  country  home, 
a  short  distance  from  Charlottesville  and  the  University.  His 
death  was  unexpected  and  seemingly  very  untimely,  being  due 
to  a  general  failure  and  some  stomach  disease  preventing 
proper  assimilation.  He  was  laid  at  rest  in  the  University 
Cemetery,  by  the  side  of  his  wife,  who  preceded  him  fifteen 
years  (1874),  and  near  many  others  who  in  life  were  his 
sincere  friends  and  co-workers — faithful  unto  Death. 

The  following  day,  The  Sun  (Baltimore)  gave  this  short 
and  deserving  editorial :  "  The  Late  Dr.  Cabell. — The  med- 
ical profession  has  sustained  a  loss  in  the  death  yesterday  of 
Dr.  James  L.  Cabell,  of  the  University  of  Virginia,  at  his 
residence  near  Charlottesville.  Dr.  Cabell  had  been  professor 


420  UNIVERSITY    OF   VIRGINIA 

of  surgery  in  the  University  for  over  fifty  years,  and  there 
are  hundreds  of  physicians,  scattered  over  the  country,  who 
learned  valuable  lessons  in  his  lecture-room.  The  news  of  his 
death  will  cause  general  regret,  particularly  among  members 
of  the  profession  of  which  he  was  an  ornament." 

JAMES  FRANCIS  HARRISON — One  day,  shortly  after  my 
entrance  to  the  University,  while  walking  along  West  Lawn 
to  a  Latin  lecture,  I  saw,  for  the  first  time,  this  gentleman 
standing  in  the  doorway  of  his  office — the  door  itself  being 
partly  open.  The  perspective  was  singularly  impressive 
from  what  I  considered  a  strained  attitude — severely  erect 
with  spraddled  legs  and  stern  expression — answering  well  to 
an  ungracefully  posed  picture  in  a  rough  frame.  As  time 
went  on,  granting  many  opportunities  of  passing  him  on  the 
street  with  a  bow  of  recognition,  I  observed  this  to  be  one  of 
his  favorite  positions — assuming  it  frequently  for  a  few  mo- 
ments as  a  method  of  obtaining  either  fresh  air  or  a  general 
survey  of  the  campus  and  possible  doings  thereon.  In  spite 
of  these  semi-contacts  we  never  came  to  meet  until  after  he 
succeeded  Professor  Venable  as  Chairman,  July,  1873.  He 
occupied  the  second  pavilion  from  the  Rotunda,  West  Lawn, 
his  office  being  the  room  just  north,  thus  making  it  very  con- 
venient for  students  calling  to  gfet  information,  commands  or 
reprimands,  as  each  after  a  fashion  desired  or  deserved.  His 
wife  possessed  a  sweet  but  sad  face,  and  mingled  little  with 
the  social  contingent  of  the  University,  being  prevented,  we 
understood,  by  precarious  health.  But  a  daughter  well  be- 
yond the  teens,  tall  and  lank,  a  brunette  of  attractive  and 
striking  features,  did  the  honors  of  the  home.  A  son  of  good 
manners  and  address  was  then  a  student,  and  enjoyed  con- 
siderable popularity  in  the  medical  department,  from  which 
he  graduated,  and  like  his  father  became  professor  in  a  South- 
ern institution.  The  Doctor  himself  was  about  sixty  years  of 
age,  but  seemingly  experienced  not  the  slightest  impairment 
of  faculties  in  spite  of  visible  dermal  wrinkles  and  silvered 
strands.  He  was  exceptionally  vigorous,  active  and  alert — 
well  calculated  to  perform  the  double  duties  of  Chairman  and 
his  chair.  He  was  about  six  feet  high  and  weighed  one  hun- 
dred and  eighty  pounds.  In  dress  he  was  somewhat  careless, 
but  on  stated  occasions  so  attired  himself  as  to  give  com- 


UNIVERSITY    OF   VIRGINIA  421 

manding  appearance  and  the  impression  of  a  strong  person- 
ality. His  step  was  firm,  positive,  rather  long  and  deliberate ; 
face  of  the  angular,  elongated  type,  mostly  covered  with 
brownish-black  beard  and  moustache  worn  slightly  long  and 
shaggy;  forehead  somewhat  broad  and  high;  nose  large  but 
thin,  with  graceful  ridge  or  outline;  voice  deep,  of  lower 
register,  and  used  generally  without  kindly  modulation — 
indeed,  I  considered  him  abrupt  in  speech,  very  outspoken, 
mincing  neither  word  nor  sentiment.  He  expressed  boldly 
and  impressively  what  he  had  to  say,  and  there  was  no  need 
of  mistaking  his  meaning;  yet  I  never  thought  he  intended 
to  be  harsh  or  severe — it  was  simply  his  individual  way  and 
manner.  Having  been  for  years  a  surgeon  in  the  United 
States  and  Confederate  navies,  where  positive  command  and 
discipline  prevailed,  and  being  without  that  innate  gentle  re- 
finement characterizing  many  of  the  professors,  it  was  not 
strange  that  his  brusque  abruptness  showed  in  forceful  con- 
trast with  those  of  a  more  retiring  nature.  At  the  same  time 
we  all  recognized  in  him  a  good  mirthful  heart,  one  who  often 
came  down  to  the  students'  level  and  impressed  them  as  de- 
siring to  be  their  true  friend  and  adviser.  While  he  was  not 
a  general  favorite,  he  shared  our  respect  and  admiration — 
none  of  us  harboring  the  slightest  feeling  against  him.  There 
was  one  thing  to  his  credit  in  common  with  the  other  pro- 
fessors— he  always  knew  his  mind,  never  vacillated  or  wavered 
between  opinions. 

We  did  not  regard  Dr.  Harrison  much  of  a  student,  and 
I  believe  the  medical  students  recognized  him  the  least  learned 
of  their  triumvirate,  in  spite  of  his  rounded  experience  in  gen- 
eral practice  where  he  seemed  bold  and  fearless — qualities 
often  counting  to  advantage  at  the  bedside.  Personally  I 
never  happened  to  be  sick  any  month  he  was  on  duty,  con- 
sequently cannot  speak  knowingly  of  his  bearing  and  impress 
in  the  sick-room — factors  of  inestimable  value  to  both  patient 
and  physician — but  I  fancy  him  to  have  been  cheerful,  encour- 
aging and  well  calculated  to  inspire  confidence,  as  he  was 
moved  little  by  trifles  and  inclined  to  make  light  of  that  which 
others  often  thought  serious.  I  distinctly  remember  a  friend 
dropped  into  my  room  one  morning  very  much  provoked  over 
the  visit  just  made  to  Dr.  Harrison  for  medical  advice,  when 
in  describing  his  malady  he  laid  special  stress  upon  one  symp- 


422  UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA 

torn — "  every  time  I  take  a  long  breath  a  sharp  pain  is  felt  about 
my  heart."  To  this  the  Doctor  seriously  remarked — "  You 
don't  have  to  take  long  breaths;  cease  annoying  yourself  with 
the  effort,  breathe  normally."  After  a  few  moments'  con- 
versation, however,  he  changed  the  pleasantry  by  prescribing 
that  which  soon  brought  a  cure,  but  not  an  obliteration  of  the 
undignified  command.  I  never  heard  but  parts — endings — 
of  several  lectures,  and  the  talks  he  gave  on  Commencement 
Days,  when  conferring  diplomas,  but  from  these  I  should 
not  imagine  him  to  have  been  a  winning  lecturer  or  speaker, 
as  his  voice,  deep  and  penetrating,  was  used  in  quick,  some- 
what jerky  sentences  without  much  modulation — qualities  that 
in  time  become  monotonous  and  tiresome. 

My  relationship  with  him  was  always  most  pleasant,  and 
as  Chairman  of  the  Faculty  he  apparently  measured  up  to  the 
students'  complete  satisfaction.  I  never  was  before  him  for 
reprimand — that  which  he  did  not  hesitate  to  administer  to 
the  deserving — but  came  near  on  one  occasion  when,  owing 
to  a  previous  engagement,  I  declined  taking  a  Sunday  horse- 
back ride  with  some  clubmates  and  others,  who  rode  to  Edge- 
hill,  entered  the  Seminary  grounds,  waved  handkerchiefs  at 
the  young  ladies,  and  indulged  in  mannerisms  open  to  criti- 
cism. Upon  Miss  Randolph  sending  out  to  inquire  what 
manner  of  men  they  were,  each  wrote  his  name  on  a  cigarette 
paper,  which  were  handed  to  the  servant,  only  to  realize 
them  the  next  afternoon  in  the  hands  of  Dr.  Harrison,  to 
whom  they  had  been  sent  by  morning's  mail  with  an  explan- 
atory letter.  The  guilty  students  needed  no  reminder  of 
what  they  had  been  summoned  to  the  Chairman's  office  for,  as 
filing  in  one  by  one  they  encountered  the  identical  faces  upon 
which  they  had  gazed  the  previous  day  in  sportive  delight. 
The  Doctor,  much  to  their  surprise,  was  very  lenient — invok- 
ing for  the  future  a  proper  regard  for  the  University's  good 
name  and  a  promise  not  to  depart  again  from  gentlemanly 
behavior. 

We  called  him  mostly  "  Doctor  Harrison,"  but  occasionally 
could  be  heard  the  more  familiar  name,  "  Old  Harry."  He 
continued  Chairman  and  professor  until  1886,  when  he  re- 
signed and  moved  to  Prince  William  County,  where  he  died 
ten  years  later. 


Professor  Francis  P.  Dunnington,  B.Sc.,  at  forty-three 
1851— 

See  page  439 


FACING   422 


CHAPTER    XXII 
PROFESSORS — PERSONAL  CHARACTERISTICS  AND  TRAITS 

William  Holmes  McGuffey — appearance  and  dress,  liberal  thinker  and 
Presbyterian ;  sickness,  death,  funeral,  burial ;  successor ;  life  work  and 
greatness.  John  Barbee  Minor — great  moral  and  legal  teacher;  ap- 
pearance, hard  worker;  Christian  home  life;  loyal  to  the  University 
during  the  Civil  War.  Noah  Knowles  Davis — personal  characteristics, 
close  observer,  deep  thinker,  hard  worker,  mingled  little  with  the 
world ;  Sunday  afternoon  Bible  lectures.  Francis  Perry  Dunnington — 
appearance,  reserved  manner,  accurate  worker  and  good  teacher. 

WILLIAM  HOLMES  McGuFFEY. — When  accompanying  Pro- 
fessor Venable  home  for  dinner  the  afternoon  I  reached  the 
University,  he  halted  near  the  center  of  the  campus  and 
pointed  out  the  various  pavilions  occupied  by  the  several  pro- 
fessors, emphasizing  the  last  on  West  Lawn,  by  which  we 
soon  passed,  as  that  of  the  oldest  member  of  the  Faculty — 
Dr.  McGufYey's.  I  inquired  his  relationship  to  the  author 
of  the  popular  "  Readers,"  only  to  receive  the  information 
that  he  was  the  author  himself  and  a  learned  philosopher.  In 
public  school  I  had  been  brought  up  on  the  "  Eclectic  Series," 
but  nothing  on  the  title  pages  indicated  the  writer's  identity 
— all  being  by  Wm.  H.  McGuffey,  LL.D.  One  can  imagine 
my  great  desire  to  see  and  hear  lecture  the  man  who  had 
collated  so  much  of  my  youthful  reading  matter — that  which 
had  an  early  realization.  He  was  about  five  feet  nine  inches 
high  and  weighed  one  hundred  and  sixty  pounds.  His  face 
was  smooth  and  beardless;  cheek-bones  prominent  and 
straightly  angled  to  the  chin;  forehead  unusually  broad  and 
high;  complexion  good — more  vital  than  sanguine;  voice 
clear,  sonorous,  lower  register,  fine  volume  and  carrying 
power;  eyes  small  and  bright.  He  dressed  in  conventional 
black  cloth,  with  long  full-skirted  coats  and  high  collars — 
silk  stock — and  a  silk  hat.  He  walked  erect,  with  firm,  de- 
liberate step,  but  carried  a  cane,  upon  which  he  placed  some 
weight;  he  seemed  always  thoughtful,  but  never  oblivious  to 
surroundings,  noticing  persons  passed-by  and  conditions  en- 

423 


424  UNIVERSITY    OF   VIRGINIA 

countered.  He  spoke  in  a  reflective,  absorbed  and  convincing 
style,  repeating  premises  and  conclusions  wherever  he  thought 
it  possible  for  students  to  find  stumbling  blocks;  he  argued 
as  he  explained,  taking  much  delight  in  both,  until  he  felt 
assured  that  his  meaning  was  understood  by  all.  He  never 
worried  or  despaired  from  a  failure  to  comprehend  the  first 
enunciation  of  a  truth,  but  recognized  all  such  to  be  golden 
opportunities  for  exercising  his  varied  resources  as  a  master 
teacher.  I  was  never  introduced  to  him,  but  we  frequently 
met,  always  to  tip  my  hat  and  have  the  salute  recognized  with 
a  slight  bow  and  kindly  smile.  I  only  heard  him  lecture  twice 
on  his  regular  course,  but  a  number  of  times  on  Sunday  after- 
noons upon  Biblical  subjects,  of  which  he  had  been  a  close 
student  and  gave  beautiful  interpretations.  Although  a  con- 
sistent Presbyterian,  he  did  not  hesitate  to  ridicule  and  de- 
nounce its  doctrine  of  predestination,  but  otherwise  was  firm 
to  the  creed.  He  gave  forth  many  educational  thoughts  apart 
from  the  subjects  he  taught;  even  grammatical  construction 
and  questions  of  rhetoric  received  sometimes  in  class  a 
straightening  process,  while  students  often  sought  him  for 
such  purpose.  I  heard  him  deprecate  on  one  occasion  the  pre- 
vailing use  of  the  comparative  for  the  superlative  degree — 
thus  contending  that  of  several  articles  one  was  not  the  better, 
but  the  best  of  the  lot.  His  lectures  were  among  the  few  at- 
tended by  outsiders,  and  no  one  at  their  close — be  the  subject 
discussed  ever  so  dependent  upon  reasoning — failed  to  be 
profited  and  to  wish  for  a  repetition  of  the  sitting.  When 
considering  the  merits  and  popularity  of  our  professors,  it  was 
soon  found  that  none  stood  higher  among  the  student-body, 
for  we  accepted  him  as  a  model  teacher  and  a  master  of  his 
profound  subject — a  tower  of  strength  in  the  Faculty.  When, 
therefore,  in  early  April  of  my  first  year  his  serious  indisposi- 
tion was  announced,  one  could  not  be  surprised  at  the  gloom 
cast  over  the  entire  atmosphere  and  the  interest  taken  in  his 
daily  condition.  Sometimes  he  had  rallied  to  bring  joy  to  every 
heart,  again  unexpected  complications  had  arisen,  or,  as  did 
occur,  mental  aberration  and  delirium,  to  spread  inexpressible 
sadness  and  regret.  Sunday,  May  4,  1873,  was  a  delightfully 
balmy  day-— well  calculated  to  stimulate  in  nature  the  un- 
folding of  imprisoned  vitality,  in  youth  an  appreciation  of 


UNIVERSITY    OF   VIRGINIA  425 

the  privilege  of  living — but  with  its  setting  sun  faded  the 
light  of  our  immortal  philosopher,  as  death  came  shortly  after 
6  o'ck.  All  exercises  of  the  University  were  suspended 
the  following  Tuesday — a  day  likewise  of  beautiful  sunshine 
and  warmth — when  at  10.30  o'ck,  the  funeral  assemblage 
began  collecting  on  the  lawn  in  front  of  the  Rotunda,  arrang- 
ing itself  in  two  parallel  lines  ten  feet  apart,  extending  nearly 
to  the  first  terrace.  Shortly  thereafter  the  casket  was  borne 
by  loving  colleagues  through  these  lines,  followed  by  respect- 
ful friends,  citizens  and  Moral  Philosophy  class — the  stand- 
ing lines  joining  the  procession  in  regular  order — all  ascend- 
ing the  Rotunda  steps  and  proceeding  to  the  Public  Hall, 
whose  pillars,  gallery  and  stage  had  been  entwined  with 
black  and  appropriate  mourning  symbols.  The  bier,  covered 
with  floral  wreaths,  rested  at  the  foot  of  the  stage,  while  upon 
this  were  seated  the  professors,  assistants,  ministers,  noted 
scholars  and  friends.  The  Hall  was  overcrowded,  mournful 
and  silent — only  the  mellow  sunlight  reflecting  through  the 
shuttered  windows  bringing  to  the  occasion  the  slightest  evi- 
dence of  brightness.  Rev.  Edgar  Woods,  of  the  Presbyte- 
rian Church,  Charlottesville,  a  close  personal  friend  of  Dr. 
McGuffey's,  read  the  Scriptural  passage,  while  our  Chaplain, 
Rev.  Dr.  T.  D.  Witherspoon,  delivered  a  very  sympathetic 
sermon  from  the  text,  "  But  when  the  fruit  is  brought  forth, 
immediately  he  putteth  forth  the  sickle  because  the  harvest 
is  come."  During  this  discourse  many  were  moved  to  tears, 
especially  when  touching  reference  was  made  to  the  Pro- 
fessor's great  kindness  to  the  speaker  personally  and  to  his  fre- 
quent visits  throughout  the  final  sickness,  in  which  the  great 
teacher's  one  thought  seemed  to  be  his  present  class.  After 
this  the  Rev.  J.  H.  Bryson  gave  expression  to  that  which 
appeared  most  pathetic  and  affecting — the  dead  professor's 
last  message  to  his  class. 

At  the  conclusion  of  these  services  the  casket  was  conveyed 
by  the  pall-bearers  from  the  Hall,  down  the  front  Rotunda 
steps,  to  the  right  by  the  Modern  Language  room,  thence  to 
its  rear  through  the  opening  between  it  and  Professor  Gilder- 
sleeve's  pavilion,  where  the  hearse  and  several  carriages  were 
in  waiting.  The  procession,  consisting  of  the  few  vehicles  and 
long  line  of  professors,  students  and  friends  on  foot,  pro- 


426  UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA 

ceeded  toward  the  Medical  Hall,  turned  left  into  the  road 
along  West  Range  and  thence  to  the  University  Cemetery, 
where,  with  the  simple  interment  service,  in  the  presence  of 
that  vast  concourse  of  uncovered  heads,  the  body  was  con- 
signed to  its  final  resting  place — in  the  rear  or  western  sec- 
tion, near  the  graves  of  Professors  Bonneycastle,  Courtenay 
and  Harrison,  to  which  have  been  added  later  those  of  How- 
ard and  Bledsoe.  During  the  greater  portion  of  Dr.  McGuf- 
fey's  sickness  until  the  close  of  the  session,  his  class  was  looked 
after  by  Doctors  Cabell  and  Witherspoon  to  the  complete 
satisfaction  of  all  concerned. 

Of  the  several  books  written  by  Dr.  McGuffey  none  bore 
directly  upon  the  great  subject  of  his  life's  work,  Moral  Phi- 
losophy— there  remaining  extant  of  this  only  his  own  notes 
and  those  taken  by  students  as  best  they  could  in  lec- 
tures. It  was  a  great  disappointment  that  after  teaching  the 
subject  so  many  years  he  failed  to  place  on  lasting  record 
his  own  opinions,  deductions  and  theories  of  mental  processes, 
and  we  were  delighted  to  learn  early  in  the  session  (1872-73) 
that  his  long  proposed  work  was  about  completed  and  could 
be  expected  from  the  press  at  any  date — that  which  after  his 
death  failed  to  materialize.  Nor  had  he  trained  anyone 
especially  to  his  liking  and  method  of  thought  suitable  to 
be  a  worthy  successor,  but  recognized  many  of  his  graduates 
equal  to  the  duties.  These  conditions,  however,  from  the 
students'  standpoint  made  the  position  very  difficult  to  fill, 
as  we  believed  that  no  other  method  or  system  than  his  would 
be  acceptable.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  in  keeping  with  Dr.  Mc- 
Guffey's  belief,  he  had  molded  abundant  material  out  of  which 
to  make  an  excellent  choice,  but  what  surprised  us  students 
most  was  the  elimination  of  his  own  product  and  the  selec- 
tion of  one  who  had  been  trained  far  differently.  This  step, 
be  it  said  in  truth,  yielded  most  happy  results,  and  convinc- 
ingly proved  that  a  new  man  with  changed  ideas  and  ideals 
may  sometimes  strengthen  a  department  that  already  is  very 
strong. 

In  the  life  of  Dr.  John  A.  Broadus  (1901),  unquestionably 
one  of  the  University's  most  loyal  and  gifted  sons  (1827- 
1895),  occurs  much  pertaining  to  his  own  student-life  and 
subsequent  identification  with  the  institution.  Among  the 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  427 

letters  written  while  enjoying  his  many  visits  there,  one  to  his 
wife,  June  6,  1872,  is  of  special  interest  here:  "Took  tea  at 
Dr.  McGuffey's.  His  work  on  '  Mental  Philosophy ' — like 
Heaven  in  size  and  design — is  printing,  and  he  showed  me 
proofs.  He  looks  as  young  and  vigorous  as  ever.  I  attended 
a  lecture  of  Gildersleeve's  at  half  past  twelve,  and  got  ideas. 
In  the  evening  he  and  Holmes  and  Peters  called,  and  Dr. 
Davis  was  prevented  after  proposing.  Gildersleeve  was  glad 
to  meet  somebody  interested  in  grammar,  and  sat  late,  very 
full  of  talk." 

Immediately  upon  Dr.  McGuffey's  death,  Professor  Smith 
wrote  Dr.  Broadus:  "May  4,  1873 — At  6.15  o'ck  this 
evening  our  venerated  and  valued  professor,  Dr.  McGuffey, 
quietly  and  in  unconsciousness  passed  away.  He  lingered  for 
weeks,  having  rallied  after  his  physicians  despaired  of  him. 
His  daughter,  Mrs.  Hepburn,  and  his  wife  were  the  only 
relatives  with  him.  .  .  .  Other  gentlemen  of  the  Faculty 
besides  Dr.  Davis  (John  Staige)  have  spoken  to  me  most 
earnestly  in  reference  to  his  successor,  and  indeed,  so  far  as 
I  know,  if  the  alumni,  faculty  and  friends  of  the  Institution 
were  polled,  their  well-nigh,  if  not  altogether  unanimous, 
choice  would  light  on  you.  These  gentlemen  desired  me  to 
approach  you  or  cause  you  to  be  approached  on  the  subject. 
I  know  of  no  way  save  that  of  simply  and  directly  telling  you 
the  facts  and  asking  you  to  deliberate  upon  them  and  give 
us  your  matured  decision,  earnestly  hoping  that  this  decision 
will  be  favorable  to  us.  It  would  be  presumptuous  in  me  to 
attempt  to  argue  the  matter  with  you.  I  could  say  nothing 
which  would  not  occur  with  greater  force  to  your  own  re- 
flections. I  can  very  well  understand  the  strength  of  your 
love  for  the  Seminary,  the  child  of  your  care  and  toil." 

This  sketch  cannot  be  concluded  more  appropriately  than 
by  quoting  from  at  least  two,  out  of  the  many,  of  Dr.  Mc- 
Guffey's graduates  who  have  not  only  become  distinguished, 
but  have  willingly  paid  a  high  tribute  of  respect  to  the  memory 
and  worth  of  their  beloved  teacher.  Thus  one  says :  "  It  is 
impossible  to  enter  even  in  outline  into  the  great  work  of 
his  life  in  its  four  departments — the  Christian  ministry,  edu- 
cational authorship,  college  presidency,  and  University  pro- 
fessorship. In  each  of  these  departments  his  life  was  emi- 


428  UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA 

nently  successful  and  useful.  As  a  preacher,  in  his  earlier 
days  he  had  few  equals,  attracting  great  crowds  wherever  he 
was  announced  to  preach,  and  to  the  last  his  sermons  gave 
evidence  of  rare  powers  of  exposition  and  masterly  acquaint- 
ance with  the  great  truths  of  redemption.  His  '  Eclectic 
Series  of  Readers '  has  made  his  name  as  familiar  as  a  house- 
hold word  throughout  the  land.  In  the  discipline  and  govern- 
ment of  young  men  as  college  president  he  was  eminently 
successful;  but  it  was  in  his  chosen  field,  the  professorship 
of  Mental  and  Moral  Science,  that  his  great  powers  found 
their  widest  and  most  congenial  field,  that  the  labor  of  his 
life  reached  its  highest  and  most  perfect  fruitage,  and  that 
the  basis  was  laid  for  his  most  enduring  and  illustrious  fame. 
Rarely  does  there  appear  in  any  one  man  the  combination  of 
so  many  qualities  as  a  successful  teacher.  His  mind  was  not 
only  endowed  with  a  power  of  subtle  analysis  which  enabled 
him  to  trace  without  the  slightest  perplexity  or  confusion  the 
most  intricate  and  occult  principles  of  metaphysics;  but  with 
this  he  combined  an  ardent  love  for  those  paths  which  conduct 
man  through  the  labyrinths  of  his  own  thought  and  volition. 
They  were  as  familiar  to  him  and  as  dear  as  his  mountain 
walks,  along  which  he  delighted  even  to  his  last  hours  to 
roam.  His  was  the  most  truly  philosophic  mind  we  have 
ever  known.  All  nature  was  to  him  the  expression  of  the 
Divine  thought — the  intelligible  seeking  to  bring  itself  into 
correlation  with  the  intelligent.  There  was  not  a  bird  that 
warbled  amidst  the  roses  of  his  trellis,  or  along  the  path  on 
which  he  took  his  evening  walk,  whose  notes  he  did  not 
interpret  into  language  addressed  to  the  rational  ear.  Nature 
was  to  him,  too,  a  great  temple.  His  philosophy  brought  him 
at  every  turn  to  the  foot  of  the  Throne,  because  it  was  pre- 
eminently a  Christian  philosophy — one  whose  inspiration  was 
gained  at  the  foot  of  the  Cross.  Not  more  devoted  was  he 
as  a  student  than  as  a  teacher.  As  in  his  evening  walks  upon 
the  mountain,  nothing  seemed  to  please  him  more  than  to 
have  some  companion  to  whose  soul  he  could  impart  some- 
thing of  the  fullness  of  his  own  delight  in  the  beauties  and 
harmonies  of  nature  around  him — so  he  never  seemed  so 
happy  as  when,  with  his  class  around  him  in  the  lecture-room, 
he  threaded  the  mazes  of  psychological  inquiry,  stepping  from 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  429 

point  to  point  with  the  bold  determined  step  of  a  master — 
pouring  a  flood  of  illustration  upon  points  the  most  obscure 
and  perplexing — now  luring  on  by  the  beauties  of  his  imagery, 
now  arousing  by  the  glowing  fervor  of  his  style — now  going 
back  upon  his  course  to  meet  and  encourage  those  whose  slug- 
gish minds  had  not  been  able  to  follow  him,  mingling  incident 
and  anecdote,  humor  and  pathos — his  great  heart  warmed 
with  the  unquenchable  desire  that  every  member  of  his  class 
should  master  the  subjects  of  the  course.  It  was  no  wonder 
that  he  was  successful,  and  that  all  over  the  land  there  are 
men  whose  testimony  is  '  he  taught  me,  as  no  other  man  ever 
did,  to  think.'  His  life  was  completely  given  to  his  great 
work.  His  death  might  almost  be  said  to  be  a  martyrdom 
to  it,  for  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  his  final  illness  was  the 
result  of  more  than  ordinary  application  to  the  duties  of  his 
chair.  He  fell,  as  every  good  man  may  wish  to  fall,  at  his 
post.  He  died,  as  he  had  so  often  wished  that  he  might  die, 
with  the  harness  on.  He  went  from  his  study  where  he  had 
been  engaged  with  a  section  of  his  class  to  the  chamber  of 
sickness  and  the  bed  of  death.  His  end  was  peaceful.  His 
life  work  was  fully  done  and  well  done,  and  he  leaves  behind 
him  the  legacy  of  a  name  as  untarnished  in  its  purity  as  it  is 
distinguished  in  the  walks  of  philosophy  and  learning." 

The  other  grateful  pupil  pays  this  tribute :  "  Of  the  many 
eminent  names  which  adorn  the  history  of  the  University  of 
Virginia  that  of  Doctor  William  H.  McGufTey  stands  forth 
as  among  the  most  prominent.  His  reputation  to-day  is 
broader  and  greater  than  during  his  life,  and  it  is  kept  alive 
by  the  hundreds  of  students  who  were  fortunate  enough  to 
listen  to  his  extraordinary  lectures.  The  writer  has  often 
wondered  why  these  lectures  were  never  printed.  Even  at 
this  late  day  they  would  mark  a  distinct  era  in  the  history 
of  Moral  Philosophy  and  Political  Economy.  He  was  one 
of  the  few  absolutely  clear  thinkers  that  this  generation  has 
produced,  and  he  had  the  happy  faculty  of  imparting  his 
knowledge  to  others  in  brief  and  perspicuous  language.  The 
writer  will  never  forget  the  field  of  thought  laid  open  to  him 
for  the  first  time  by  this  masterful  man.  He  traced  the 
growth  of  Realism  and  Idealism,  and  demonstrated  how  the 
mind  of  man  had  for  ages  been  grappling  with  the  problems 


430  UNIVERSITY    OF   VIRGINIA 

of  psychology ;  he  stated  that  ideas  were  never  lost ;  that  they 
were  eternal  but  not  immutable ;  that  each  age  had  the  benefit 
of  the  learning  that  was  behind  it,  and,  as  time  passed,  brighter 
and  nobler  trophies  were  streaming  from  the  flag-staff  of 
science.  The  learning  of  Sir  William  Hamilton,  of  Victor 
Cousin,  of  Theodore  Jouffroy  and  of  Dugald  Stewart,  was 
more  known  to  his  class  in  a  form  far  more  attractive  and 
more  profound  than  that  of  the  writers  themselves.  He  fairly 
reveled  in  delight  when  he  attacked  the  problems  of  mes- 
merism, clairvoyance  and  electro-biology  and  proved  that  for 
more  than  two  thousand  years  the  human  mind  had  been  grap- 
pling with  these  occult  problems.  He  did  not  deny  that  there 
were  perhaps  occult  forces  in  nature  unknown  and  yet  to  be  dis- 
covered, and  he  recognized  the  fact  that  electricity  was  des- 
tined to  have  tremendous  effect  upon  the  political  economy  of 
the  world.  He  drew  the  most  exquisite  picture  of  the  world 
one  thousand  years  hence,  when  the  great  body  of  men  and 
women  would  live  out  their  full  natural  lives,  owing  to  the 
advancement  of  medical  science;  when  living  would  be  made 
infinitely  easier;  when  with  machinery  now  unknown  men 
would  navigate  the  air,  and  the  great  problems  of  government 
would  be  understood  and  all  people  would  be  absolutely  pro- 
tected in  the  three  great  rights  of  personal  security,  personal 
liberty  and  private  property.  And  nothing  could  have  been 
grander  than  the  continued  attacks  he  made  upon  atheism 
and  infidelity.  His  blows  rained  upon  the  citadel  of  infidelity 
like  the  blows  of  Richard  Coeur  de  Lion  on  the  walls  of  the 
castle  of  Front  De  Bceuf.  He  made  '  Butler's  Analogy '  as 
charming  as  a  well  written  novel.  Which  one  of  his  students 
can  ever  forget  his  touching  and  graphic  description  of  the 
sublime  and  beautiful  doctrine  of  Him  who,  clad  in  an  humble 
fisherman's  garb,  taught  by  the  wayside  in  Galilee  and  Judaea ! 
Though  an  earnest  and  loyal  Presbyterian,  nothing  seemed 
to  delight  him  more  than  to  attack  the  world's  prevalent  idea 
of  predestination.  He  pounded  it  with  ridicule,  stamped  it 
with  sarcasm,  and  made  what  predestination  really  meant  so 
plain^that  no  one  could  misunderstand  his  version  of  it.  As  a 
logician  he  was  without  a  rival,  and  the  science  of  logic  was 
never  better  taught  than  by  him.  He  delighted  in  syllogisms 
and  syllogistic  reasoning,  and  so  impressed  the  writer  that  he 


Professor  Leopold  J.  Boeck,  Ph.D.,  at  fifty 
1823-1896 

See  page  442 


FACING   430 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  431 

has  found  this  particular  kind  of  argument  of  great  benefit  in 
his  professional  career.  As  a  lecturer  upon  Political  Economy 
he  was,  with  the  exception  of  Professor  Frank  Smith,  who 
stands  and  is  likely  to  stand,  unrivaled  in  his  particular  branch, 
and  the  late  James  P.  Holcombe,  perhaps  the  most  attractive 
speaker  at  the  University  of  Virginia  in  his  day  and  time. 
Many  of  the  students  of  his  class  in  Political  Economy  became 
so  interested  in  Adam  Smith,  who  is  really  the  father  of  the 
science,  that  they  read  his  celebrated  work  with  almost  the 
avidity  with  which  they  read  Ivanhoe.  It  was  Adam  Smith, 
said  the  lecturer,  who  first  proved  to  the  world  that  manu- 
facturing nations  were  destined  to  excel  all  others  in  pros- 
perity. And  why?  Because  the  shaping  of  the  raw  material 
into  the  finished  product  adds  immensely  to  the  intrinsic  value 
of  the  article.  It  makes  it  salable,  merchantable  and  useful, 
and  the  profit  of  the  manufacturer  must  be  greater  than  that 
of  the  person  engaged  in  raising  the  raw  material.  But  he 
was  at  his  best  when  he  lectured  upon  Campbell's  Philosophy 
of  Rhetoric  and  Kanes'  Elements  of  Criticism.  It  enabled 
him  to  speak  of  the  growth  of  English  Literature  from  the 
days  of  Chaucer,  the  father  of  English  poetry,  to  the  present 
time.  Two  or  three  of  his  lectures  upon  the  Elizabethan  age 
and  literature  always  fired  the  enthusiasm  of  his  class  and  we 
made  the  walls  of  the  old  lecture-room  ring  with  applause. 
I  well  remember  his  bald  head  and  his  twinkling  little  eyes 
as  he  would  gently  admonish  us  that  it  was  wrong  to  openly 
applaud.  I  take  this  method  of  paying  a  small  tribute  to 
the  memory  of  the  greatest  and  most  profound  master  of 
thought  to  whom  I  have  ever  had  the  good  fortune  to  listen." 

JOHN  BARBEE  MINOR — Although  this  gentleman  was  the 
chief  professor  of  law,  in  which  his  reputation  was  national, 
teaching  it  solely  to  those  of  that  department  the  six  working 
days,  yet  he  was  a  remarkable  Shakespearean  and  Biblical 
scholar,  expounding  his  knowledge  of  the  latter  in  a  course 
of  lectures  delivered  every  Sunday  morning,  9  o'ck,  in  his 
regular  lecture-room.  To  this  all  students  had  access,  in 
fact  were  invited,  but  none  was  desired  who  would  not  study 
the  subject  and  profit  by  the  teaching.  Consequently  only 
those  religiously  inclined  and  legal  students  desiring  to  know 


432  UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA 

something  of  the  sacred  writings  constituted  the  class.  It 
was  well  understood  that  Professor  Minor  recognized  the 
Christian  life  as  the  only  one,  and  that  he  considered  an  ac- 
quaintance with  the  Bible  essential  to  every  lawyer,  looking 
with  special  favor  and  interest  upon  those  in  his  department 
of  like  opinion — who  earnestly  attended  and  studied  these 
Scriptural  lectures.  Realizing  this,  few  law  students  inclined 
to  incur  his  disfavor  through  what  apparently  seemed  at  the 
beginning  of  the  course  a  slight  extra  tax  upon  time,  that 
which,  however,  developed  into  no  little  responsibility  as  the 
session  advanced,  owing  to  the  thoroughness  of  instruction  and 
amount  of  material  included.  I  did  not  connect  myself  with 
the  class  until  the  beginning  of  my  third  year,  and  then  at 
the  solicitation  of  that  congenial  boon  companion,  Davis, 
whose  religious  precepts  and  example  I  so  much  admired  as 
to  permit  a  positive  influence — that  for  which  I  am  deeply 
grateful — over  many  of  my  University  doings.  All  members 
of  this  class  were  supposed  to  have  a  Bible  and  a  copy  of 
"Union  Questions,  Vol.  XII." — the  latter  supplied  by  the 
Professor  from  the  University  Sunday  School,  and  in  my  case 
retained  as  a  souvenir  of  faithfulness  until  the  present  in  a 
good  state  of  preservation.  He  assigned  a  certain  lesson  or 
lessons,  with  direct  and  concordant  chapters  in  the  Bible,  lec- 
tured thereon  in  a  conversational  style,  and  catechised  upon 
the  same  the  following  Sunday,  when  he  often  elaborated 
more  fully  certain  paragraphs.  He  expected  of  us  a  clear  un- 
derstanding of  the  subjects  assigned  with  their  accompanying 
questions,  and  few  of  us  felt  comfortable  to  go  there  unpre- 
pared. His  questions  were  not  necessarily  those  found  in  the 
"  Question  Book,"  consequently  we  never  felt  quite  sure  of 
the  extent  to  which  the  subjects  would  be  discussed  and  de- 
veloped. 

In  and  out  of  class  he  was  one  of  the  most  suave,  placid  and 
easy  mannered  of  men — kind  in  look  and  word  with  Chris- 
tian smile  and  expression — yet  earnest,  serious  and  sufficiently 
positive  to  get  best  results  from  students.  Always  so  paternal 
that  he  could  and  would  not  do  other  than  what  he  believed 
right  and  just  to  his  own — that  which  he  accepted  us  to  be 
for  the  time  being.  He,  however,  did  not  invariably  see  our 
good  through  our  own  eyes,  as  sometimes  he  would  reprimand 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  433 

a  lack  of  preparation  in  poignant  words  or  sentences — that  in 
spite  of  stimulating  better  future  effort  bore  a  little  heavy  at 
the  time  upon  a  sensitive  nature.  But  it  was  done,  as  we  after- 
wards saw,  for  good — to  secure  more  conscientious  work — 
that  which  it  accomplished.  Of  that  class-relationship  noth- 
ing stands  out  so  forcibly  in  these  later  years  as  those  beau- 
tiful prayers  he  was  accustomed  to  make — of  rare,  simple, 
exquisite  diction,  deep,  lovable,  convincing  sincereness — and 
the  extreme  attentive  respect  accorded  him  by  us  all.  Pro- 
fessor Minor  was  then  sixty  years  of  age,  about  six  feet  high 
and  weighed  one  hundred  and  eighty  pounds.  He  wore  no 
moustache,  but  a  short  white  beard  covered  the  chin  and  lower 
sides  of  the  face ;  his  complexion  was  clear,  sometimes  florid ; 
nose  of  good  size  but  well-shaped;  forehead  broad  and  high; 
countenance  and  facial  expressions  kindly,  benigp ;  voice  clear, 
well-modulated,  rather  fine  and  penetrating,  yet  thoroughly 
agreeable  from  it  not  being  loud;  manners  easy,  gentle,  re- 
fined and  retiring;  language  full,  ready  and  beautiful;  dress 
plain  and  neat — mostly  black  cutaway  coats,  open  standing 
collars  with  narrow  black  tied  cravats,  derby,  silk  or  straw 
hats.  In  spite  of  gouty  and  rheumatic  tendency  his  step  was 
quick  and  positive,  but  always  with  a  cane.  For  two  winters 
I  remember  he  suffered  painful  attacks  which  necessitated  an 
absence  of  weeks  from  classes  and  the  doing  of  his  work  so 
far  as  possible  by  others.  As  soon,  however,  as  the  severe 
inflammatory  stage  had  subsided  he  was  up,  and  could  be 
seen  wending  his  way  slowly  along  the  East  Lawn  arcade 
upon  crutches  to  the  class-room,  where  by  sitting  he  could 
impart  orally  his  knowledge,  gladden  the  hearts  of  his 
students,  and  in  a  way  discharge  professorial  duty.  We  re- 
garded him  then  an  old  man — in  fact  often  called  him,  "  Old 
John  B.,"  but  in  no  disrespect — and  believed  he  would  soon 
be  incapacitated  for  teaching,  that  which  was  not  realized  until 
twenty  years  later.  He  enjoyed  the  reputation  among  us 
students  of  being  the  most  indefatigable  worker  in  the 
Faculty — that  he  studied  early  and  late,  seldom  retiring  be- 
fore i  o'ck,  in  the  morning,  and  breakfasting  with  the  family 
so  as  to  be  at  his  desk  by  8  o'ck.  It  made  no  difference 
how  late  at  night  we  passed  his  home,  last  pavilion  on  East 
Lawn,  a  light  could  be  seen  burning  brightly  in  his  study, 


434  UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA 

thus  verifying  his  studious  habit.  We  understood  that  he 
and  Dr.  Davis  (John  Staige)  were  the  heaviest  losers  in  the 
bank  failures  of  Charlottesville  of  those  days,  but  nothing 
came  to  our  ears  that  either  ever  complained  aloud.  Indeed, 
on  the  contrary,  they  bore  misfortune  with  Christian  resigna- 
tion— far  more  than  did  some  of  the  students  their  small 
amounts  on  deposit  willingly  made  good  by  loving  parents. 
Fortunately  the  University  suffered  little  from  these  financial 
upheavals,  as  she  used  Richmond  banks  for  monetary  deposits 
and  transactions. 

In  my  day  Professor  Minor  had  two  small  but  very  friendly 
sons,  Johnny  and  Raleigh,  whom  I  frequently  saw  and  ques- 
tioned concerning  their  studies,  which  then  seemed  to  me  far 
advanced  considering  their  years,  as  Latin  and  French  were 
included,  and  of  both  they  possessed  a  fair  elementary  under- 
standing. These  lads  have  long  since  grown  into  most 
worthy  scions  of  a  noble  sire.  His  daughter,  Miss  Mary,  by 
a  former  marriage,  enjoyed  the  friendship  of  not  a  few 
students,  especially  of  the  older  and  more  thoughtful  set,  and 
contributed  largely  in  making  the  home  attractive  and  delight- 
ful to  visit.  Usually  during  "  Finals  "  they  gave,  at  least, 
one  reception  to  which  many  were  invited,  and  none  who 
chanced  that  way  was  refused  a  generous  welcome,  "  that 
cometh  from  the  heart." 

Apart  from  his  great  legal  knowledge — that  which  assigned 
and  fixed  his  national  reputation — we  students  recognized  in 
him  something  deeper  and  dearer  than  mere  professional  at- 
tainments: a  wise  counselor,  a  judicious  benefactor,  a  power- 
ful personality  for  good,  and  a  Christian  gentleman  whose 
daily  acts  conformed  thereto  and  arose  above  the  slightest 
suspicion  or  criticism.  We  believed  he  could  not  be  tempted 
from  the  path  of  rectitude  by  sordid  and  glittering  induce- 
ments, and  that  he  would  advocate  under  all  circumstances 
what  was  just,  right  and  true.  As  a  fact,  somehow  or 
another,  we  fancied  these  qualities  more  strongly  centered  in 
him,  if  possible,  than  in  any  other  member  of  the  Faculty.  I 
recall  one  year,  when  two  or  three  of  his  recognized  bright 
men  failed  to  graduate,  that  much  wild  talk  was  indulged  in 
by  various  students,  and  on  Commencement  Day  as  the  law 
graduates  were  called  a  few  hisses  rang  through  the  Hall 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  435 

while  several  vigorously  proclaimed  the  names  of  the  disap- 
pointed. But  the  feeling  was  of  butterfly  duration,  as  the 
next  session  all  thought  that  justice  had  been  measured  out 
properly  to  them — that  according  to  the  University's  only 
standard  and  guide  for  excellence,  examinations,  they  had 
truly  fallen  by  the  wayside.  We  were  familiar  in  a  measure 
with  the  many  sacrifices  Professor  Minor  had  made  in  behalf 
of  the  University ;  the  part  he  played  with  Professors  Maupin, 
Schele  and  others,  spring  of  1864,  in  saving  her  from  destruc- 
tion by  the  Army  of  General  Sheridan,  which  encamped  in 
and  around  the  campus  a  few  days  en  route  from  Staunton  to 
Petersburg — that  owing  to  the  personal  appeal  of  these  gentle- 
men the  General  permitted  a  detachment  to  guard  and  protect 
every  building  without  the  slightest  disturbance  of  contents. 
We  fancied  at  that  conference  the  persuasive,  self-possessed 
and  courtly  presence  of  Professor  Minor  went  far  towards 
disarming  the  enemy  of  venom  and  convincing  the  General 
that  the  University  deserved  to  live  for  the  cause  of  educa- 
tion and  humanity.  Professor  Minor  was  no  impulsive,  ex- 
citable secessionist,  on  the  contrary  a  Unionist,  but  a  true  ad- 
vocate and  teacher  of  States'  Rights,  a  disciple  of  the  illus- 
trious Jefferson  and  Madison,  a  follower  of  his  distinguished 
predecessors,  Lomax,  Davis  and  Tucker.  He  believed  in 
Christian  charity  and  justice,  conservative  thought  and  ac- 
tion, and  that  the  wise  counsel  of  the  intelligent  would  cor- 
rect prevailing  wrongs.  His  religion  dominated  absolutely 
his  life — that  which  he  believed  should  be  true  with  all  others 
— and  his  every  act,  apparent  and  concealed,  was  but  a  mani- 
festation or  expression  of  that  ennobling  sentiment. 

Through  the  love  and  admiration  of  his  former  pupils,  Law 
Alumni  and  colleagues  his  fiftieth  anniversary  of  continuous 
service  at  the  University  was  celebrated  by  presenting  to  the 
Library  a  life-size  white  marble  bust,  carved  by  Valentine, 
mounted  upon  a  polished  pedestal,  bearing  the  inscription: 
"  1845 — He  taught  the  law  and  the  reason  thereof — 1895." 
It  was  unveiled  Commencement  Day,  June  I2th,  after  Profes- 
sor Woodrow  Wilson  concluded  his  very  able  Alumni  address, 
when  Professors  Thornton  and  Green  made  happy  speeches 
and  Senator  Daniel  an  eulogistic  oration.  The  Public  Hall 
was  filled  with  a  distinguished  multitude  to  enjoy  the  com- 


436  UNIVERSITY    OF   VIRGINIA 

bined  exercises,  but  Professor  Minor,  owing  to  modesty  and 
feebleness,  remained  at  home,  where,  however,  immediately 
afterwards  he  held  a  reception,  greeting  and  entertaining  de- 
lightfully his  numerous  old  friends  and  students.  He  was  in 
full  possession  of  mental  powers  but  physically  weak,  yet 
during  the  course  just  ended  had  delivered  with  regularity  his 
accustomed  lectures,  and  confidently  expected  to  conduct,  as 
usual,  his  summer  Law  Class  in  the  coming  vacation.  This, 
however,  was  destined  not  to  be,  as  scarcely  was  it  organized 
before  increased  feebleness  gave  evidence  of  weakened  vitality 
and  irreparable  bodily  infirmities  that  culminated  in  death  on 
July  29th.  By  tender  hands  he  was  laid  at  rest  in  the  Univer- 
sity Cemetery,  near  those  in  life  he  loved  most,  where  the 
friendly  pilgrim  can  read  and  interpret  his  prophetic  dream — 
the  inspiration  of  his  earthly  existence,  "  I  shall  be  satisfied 
when  I  awake  with  Thy  likeness." 

NOAH  KNOWLES  DAVIS — This  gentlemen  did  not  become 
connected  with  the  University  until  my  second  year — being 
the  successor  of  Dr.  McGuffey,  who  had  filled  so  acceptably 
for  thirty-three  years  the  chair  of  Moral  Philosophy.  Owing 
to  the  versatility  of  Dr.  McGuffey's  scholarly  acquirements 
making  him  a  philosopher,  political  economist  and  minister 
of  high  order — characteristics  recognized  essential  for  one 
taking  charge  of  the  department — few  at  first  believed  that 
such  a  combination  could  possibly  exist  in  Professor  Davis. 
It  is  true  that  Dr.  McGuffey  had  already  shed  for  some  years 
the  clerical  gown,  but  had  ever  continued  his  Sunday  after- 
noon Biblical  lectures  to  the  delight  of  the  younger  as  well 
as  older  heads.  Indeed,  these  being  without  the  quizzing 
phase  were  enjoyed  far  more  than  those  of  Professor  Minor's, 
as  we  felt  there  was,  at  least,  one  lecture  a  week  for  which 
no  strict  account  had  to  be  given — and  now  what  was  to  be- 
come of  this  course  was  to  us  a  speculative  question.  Upon 
our  return  to  the  University  in  October,  1873,  we  found  Pro- 
fessor Davis  on  the  ground  ready  to  begin  the  discharge  of 
his  duties.  He  was  only  forty-three  years  of  age  but  older 
looking;  stood  nearly  six  feet  high  and  weighed  one  hundred 
and  eighty  pounds.  His  shoulders  were  broad  and  square 
but  slightly  curved  forward;  walked  with  a  firm  deliberate 


UNIVERSITY    OF   VIRGINIA  437 

step  with  head  slightly  bowed  and  eyes  fixed  downward  as 
though  in  deep  meditation;  face  rather  large  and  strong;  hair 
brownish-black — worn  long  on  the  sides  and  back,  the  top 
being  bald;  moustache  and  beard  brownish-black — of  good 
thickness  and  length;  forehead  bold,  broad  and  deep — show- 
ing perceptive  organs  well-developed ;  eyes  clear  and  bright — 
a  little  dreamy;  voice  deep,  clear,  penetrating  and  agreeable; 
articulation  slow  and  thoughtful;  manner  quiet,  sluggish,  re- 
flective and  serious — not  given  to  laughter,  even  seldom  smil- 
ing; dress  somewhat  indifferent  but  becoming  a  scholarly 
man — usually  in  black — frock  coats,  derby  and  silk  hats.  Al- 
together he  suggested  the  Grecian  philosopher,  such  as  we 
fancied  might  have  characterized  either  Aristotle,  Plato  or 
Socrates.  Professor  Davis  was  a  methodical  and  persistent 
worker,  almost  converting  night  into  day,  seldom  stopping 
until  one  or  two  in  the  morning,  but  rested  late — often  near 
unto  noon.  He  saw  little  of  his  family  and  seemingly  con- 
cerned himself  less  with  its  management,  but  fortunately  had 
a  helpful  companion  and  good  executive  in  his  wife,  who 
willingly  relieved  him  of  all  domestic  interests — not,  however, 
without  lamenting  the  seclusion  he  needed  and  exacted  for 
study  and  reflection.  Mrs.  Davis,  on  the  other  hand,  was 
of  the  bright  animated  type,  entering  energetically  into  the 
social  and  more  worldly  side  of  life,  so  that  upon  her  and  the 
two  daughters,  Misses  Morell  and  Clara,  rested  the  honors 
of  entertaining,  of  which  there  was  considerable.  The  Pro- 
fessor seldom  dropped  in  on  the  visitor  and  then  only  for  a 
few  moments,  usually  excusing  himself  for  a  return  to  his  of- 
fice— room  north  of  his.  home,  fourth  pavilion  from  the 
Rotunda,  West  Lawn,  the  original  nucleus  and  library  of  the 
University — where  abundant  work  always  awaited  him. 

He  was  regarded  by  the  student-body  as  a  deep  and  pro- 
found thinker,  but  not  as  a  special  favorite,  although  none 
cherished  evil  wishes  against  him.  The  chief  criticism  lay 
solely  in  his  efforts,  as  we  thought,  to  make  his  course  un- 
necessarily difficult,  without  any  regard  at  abridgment  or  cur- 
tailment— a  grievance  that  invariably  ended  after  graduation, 
when  the  course  was  not  considered  in  the  least  too  severe, 
if  anything,  it  could  be  made  a  little  more  so.  In  spite  of  this 
sentiment,  however,  he  enjoyed 'our  unbounded  respect  and 


438  UNIVERSITY    OF   VIRGINIA 

admiration,  owing  to  his  varied  knowledge,  scholarly  attain- 
ments and  recognized  reputation.  We  called  him  as  a  rule 
"  Professor  Noah  K.,"  sometimes  "  Professor  Davis "  and 
occasionally  "  Old  Noah  K.,"  the  latter  without  the  slightest 
disrespect. 

Much  to  our  delight  he,  like  Dr.  McGuffey,  was  a  pains- 
taking Biblical  scholar  and  at  once  began  the  delivery  of  Sun- 
day afternoon  lectures  which  from  the  first  were  popular  and 
well  attended.  They  were  given  in  his  regular  class-room 
from  3.30  to  4.30  o'ck,  beginning  with  Genesis  and  including 
discussions  of  other  books  he  thought  most  essential.  I  very 
distinctly  recall  among  others  his  explanation  of  the  world's 
creation  in  six  days — not  necessarily  days  of  our  accepted 
length  but  periods  of  far  greater  time — which  I  regarded  a 
vast  improvement  over  the  orthodox  theory  taught  me  in 
earlier  days.  There  were  many  other  points  he  endeavored 
to  clarify  and  conform  to  reason — a  duty  he  recognized  be- 
longing to  every  one  attempting  to  expound  and  popularize 
the  word  of  God  in  this  intelligent  age. 

He  was  seldom  seen  taking  walks  for  exercise — that  which 
apparently  he  did  not  need — but  devoted  all  his  time  to  read- 
ing, studying  and  other  duties  incident  to  his  department.  He 
undoubtedly  recognized  only  one  object  in  life — work — such, 
however,  as  might  be  turned  into  good  for  others  even  at  the 
sacrifice  of  self.  His  chief  ambition  was  seeking  truth — that 
which  could  only  be  revealed  so  far  as  he  was  concerned  by  a 
comparison  of  others'  works  and  thoughts  in  order  to  assign 
to  them  their  deserved  value.  This  was  only  possible  through 
extensive  reading  and  close  thinking — that  which  finally  he 
hoped  would  make  him  the  intelligent  adjudicator  and  col- 
laborator of  the  endless  amount  of  philosophical  matter. 
Largely  he  has  lived  to  realize  his  hopes,  having  enunciated 
in  his  half-dozen  works  the  results  of  a  lifetime's  devotion  to 
unceasing  study  and  careful  meditation — works  and  thoughts 
that  will  survive  to  impress  and  teach  generations  unborn. 
There  was  a  great  difference  between  Professor  Davis'  and  Dr. 
McGuffey's  teachings,  as  the  former  did  not  hesitate  to  give 
most  abstruse  and  comprehensive  theories  along  with  those 
considered  less  difficult,  while  the  latter  had  largely  his  own 
philosophical  doctrines  which  he  preferred  students  to  accept 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  439 

and  master,  even  at  the  sacrifice  of  those  promulgated  by 
others  and  often  more  popular.  Dr.  McGuffey  was  too  old 
to  give  the  best  of  certain  kinds  of  service — that  dependent 
upon  research,  translation  and  continued  comparison — conse- 
quently adhered  to  the  doctrines,  theories,  conceptions  and 
beliefs  of  his  earlier  life.  With  these  he  was  satisfied,  in 
them  placed  his  faith,  and  considered  them  worthy  of  being 
taught  throughout  the  world.  While  conservative  towards 
the  opinions  of  others,  he  was  positive  in  his  own,  but  above 
all  was  considerate  and  tolerant  for  the  short-comings  of 
youth.  The  advent,  therefore,  of  Professor  Davis  with  his 
more  comprehensive  and  exacting  methods  was  not  without 
value,  since  it  introduced  changes  that  brought  the  department 
in  harmony  with  current  thought  and  made  its  diploma  no 
longer  an  open  sesame,  but  among  the  University's  most  diffi- 
cult acquisitions — that  upon  which  she  preferred  her  reputa- 
tion to  rest. 

FRANCIS  PERRY  DUNNINGTON — This  gentleman  belonged 
to  a  younger  generation  than  did  any  of  the  full  professors, 
having  only  reached  his  majority  a  few  months  previous  to 
my  entering  the  University — my  first  year  being  his  sixth 
as  a  student  and  first  as  Adjunct  Professor  of  Analytical  and 
Agricultural  Chemistry.  Although  I  did  not  come  directly 
under  him  until  my  last  session,  when  he  was  in  his  twenty- 
sixth  year,  I  frequently  saw  him  from  the  beginning  on 
through  my  entire  course.  To  all  the  students  of  those  times 
I  am  confident  he  appeared  exceptionally  mature — certainly 
not  less  than  thirty  years  of  age.  He  occupied  a  room  on 
West  Lawn  between  the  first  and  second  pavilions — Professor 
Gildersleeve's  and  Harrison's — and  was  recognized  as  keeping 
well  within  its  walls,  seldom  wandering  therefrom  save  for 
meals  and  the  discharge  of  duties  incident  to  his  department. 
While  neither  sad  nor  morose  he  was  always  quiet,  seclusive 
and  busy — seemingly  one  unto  himself  and  in  a  measure  un- 
like the  majority  of  students,  younger  and  older.  This  atti- 
tude of  reservedness  or  semi-isolation  we  did  not  accept  as 
assumed  per  force  of  professorial  connection,  but  as  coming 
through  the  natural  channel  of  inheritance  or  preference.  I 
doubt  if  any  of  us  went  so  far  as  to  consider  him  peculiar 


440  UNIVERSITY    OF   VIRGINIA 

owing  to  this  apparent  idiosyncrasy  or  difference  from  us,  for 
in  those  days  we  were  very  liberal  and  cosmopolitan  along 
most  lines — granting,  at  least,  to  every  one  the  rightful  privi- 
lege of  forming  and  following  his  own  ways  and  manners 
without  even  the  thought  of  mild  criticism.  Surely  few  of 
us  appreciated  his  youth  or  ambition,  and  what  the  material- 
ization of  the  latter  meant  to  him — or  in  fact  to  any  one  mak- 
ing the  attempt  to  fill  with  credit  such  a  significant  and  respon- 
sible position.  He  devoted  little  time  to  the  ladies  until  my 
last  year,  when,  realizing  I  dare  say  a  satisfactory  control 
of  his  department,  he  ventured  forth  considerably  into  that 
phase  of  social  life — to  the  extent  of  shortly  thereafter  becom- 
ing a  husband  and  in  time  a  multiple  father.  This  step  of 
matrimony  was  naturally  a  surprise  to  many,  as  inclination, 
courage  and  a  responsive  soul  were  elements  some  thought 
would  ever  be  wanting  in  his  case.  But  as  all  of  us  have 
learned  in  the  intervening  years — students  do  not  know  it  all 
and  their  predictions  often  miscarry. 

Professor  Dunnington  was  at  least  six  feet  high  and 
weighed  one  hundred  and  seventy  pounds.  His  face  was  full, 
somewhat  elongated  and  bore  a  reddish  moustache;  com- 
plexion of  sanguine  type  and  not  very  clear;  nose  rather 
large  but  of  good  outline;  hair  reddish  and  abundant;  man- 
ners quiet,  diffident,  retiring,  and  a  little  awkward  but 
gentlemanly;  voice  a  trifle  thick  yet  sufficiently  powerful  for 
ordinary  lecturing  purposes;  step  quick  and  firm — always 
hurried. 

He  was  an  industrious,  painstaking  and  serious  worker, 
never  idling  when  there  was  something  to  do — that  which  to 
him  was  always  in  sight.  He  was  well  equipped  in  the  knowl- 
edge of  his  department,  but  I  did  not  consider  him  the  best  of 
teachers — his  experience  then  possibly  having  been  too  limited 
to  bring  out  and  develop  latent  possibilities.  Some  are  born 
teachers — as  they  are  great — others  have  to  acquire  one  or 
both,  that  in  which  no  doubt  Professor  Dunnington  has  been 
fortunate,  overcoming  long  since  the  slight  imperfections 
noticeable  in  my 'day.  He  certainly  possessed  in  high  degree 
the  University  spirit  of  teaching — making  students  help  and 
depend  on  self  in  their  work — a  process  most  valuable  but  not 
of  universal  application  provided  best  immediate  results  are 


Professor  Stephen  O.  Southall,  IvIv.D.,  at  sixty 
1816-1884 

See  page  445 


FACING  440 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  441 

desired,  such,  however,  as  in  the  end  makes  a  man  if  there  be 
manhood,  and  the  scholar  if  there  be  mentality.  All  children 
cannot  be  handled  alike  in  their  parental  training,  so  likewise 
in  a  slightly  later  period  various  methods  of  education  might 
bring  to  one  and  another  greater  good,  but  the  University 
system — pitch  in  Tucker  and  go  it  alone — prevailed,  and  in 
spite  of  demanding  a  large  consumption  of  time  and  energy 
served  to  acquaint  one  early  with  life's  serious  obstacles  and 
the  necessity  of  being  at  all  times  self-resourceful. 


CHAPTER   XXIII 
PROFESSORS — PERSONAL  CHARACTERISTICS  AND  TRAITS 

Leopold  Jules  Boeck— nativity,  personality;  great  linguist;  resignation. 
Stephen  O.  Southall— characteristics,  fine  speaker;  popular  with  stud- 
ents. John  Randolph  Page— characteristics ;  course  unpopular;  resig- 
nation. Thomas  Randolph  Price,  successor  to  Professor  Gildersleeve ; 
characteristics;  home  quite  a  social  factor.  William  Wertenbaker, 
Librarian;  youth,  training;  appointed  by  Mr.  Jefferson.  M.  Green 
Peyton,  Proctor— personality,  good  official,  friendly  to  all  students. 
Henry  Martin,  Janitor— personal  traits,  affable,  dignified  but  friendly. 

THERE  were  four  professors — Boeck,  Southall,  Page,  Price 
— with  whom  my  student  course  required  no  direct  contact, 
yet  who  were  seen  almost  daily  in  one  place  or  another,  oc- 
casionally to  enjoy  a  few  words  in  conversation. 

LEOPOLD  JULES  BOECK — This  gentleman  was  elected  pro- 
fessor of  "  Applied  Mathematics  and  Civil  Engineering  "  in 
1867,  a  new  department  created  in  the  University  the  previous 
year.  He  was  born  at  Culm,  Poland,  in  1823,  being  a  distin- 
guished Hungarian  patriot,  possessing  beyond  a  mastery  of 
his  teaching  subjects  a  superior  knowledge  of  many  languages. 
After  graduating  from  the  University  of  Bonn  he  entered  the 
University  of  Berlin  where  he  received  the  Doctor  of 
Philosophy  degree.  With  the  zeal  of  early  manhood  he 
championed  the  side  of  the  nobility  in  the  Polish  revolution 
of  1849,  which  being  unsuccessful  caused  him  to  seek  refuge 
in  Hungary,  then  also  struggling  for  independence.  Here 
again  he  espoused  a  defeated  cause,  which  otherwise  would 
have  promoted  him  to  the  Secretary  of  State  under  General 
Kossuth,  but  in  reality  occasioned  his  appointment  as  Envoy 
Extraordinary  to  Turkey  in  the  hope  of  securing  aid.  This 
he  was  not  only  refused,  but  there  imprisoned  and  sent  to 
Paris,  where,  becoming  an  intimate  friend  of  Victor  Hugo,  he 
advocated  strongly  his  accession  to  the  French  throne  rather 
than  the  restoration  of  Louis  Napoleon — that  for  which  he 
was  ordered  to  leave  the  country,  a  dire  necessity  that 

442 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  443 

prompted  his  coming  to  the  United  States.  -He  was  just  fifty 
when  I  entered  the  university,  but,  like  most  of  the  professors, 
seemed  older  to  us  youthful  students  than  we  thought  those 
years  should  indicate;  weighed  about  one  hundred  and  eighty 
pounds  and  stood  six  feet  high.  His  shoulders  were  square 
and  broad  but  bent  slightly  forward;  hips  and  chest  full  and 
large;  face  roundish  and  of  good  size;  forehead  broad  and 
high;  hair  abundant,  blackish  and  combed  loosely  backward 
without  much  of  a  part;  chin-whiskers  and  moustache  black- 
ish with  some  whitish  strands;  nose  full-size  and  well-propor- 
tioned. He  spoke  quickly  in  rather  a  high  pitched  voice  with 
a  decided  foreign  accent,  and  in  conversation  was  animated 
— indeed,  at  times  demonstrative — using  many  gestures  and 
facial  expressions.  He  moved  with  rapid  step,  appearing  al- 
ways in  a  hurry,  and  his  whole  make-up  indicated  the  impul- 
sive nervous  type — easily  irritated  but  soon  pacified.  In  the 
eyes  of  the  student-body  he  was  the  conversational  linguist  of 
the  Faculty — speaking  at  least  six  or  eight  languages — and 
therefore  was  supposed  by  us  to  be  an  almost  indispensable 
factor.  But  with  his  own  students  he  stood  in  less  favor,  as 
they  failed  to  appreciate  his  ultra  frank  and  familiar  manner, 
his  volatile  and  impetuous  disposition.  It  is  true  they  re- 
garded him  as  a  man  of  great  learning,  in  and  out  of  his  de- 
partment, yet  they  appreciated  the  fact  that  he  fell  short  of 
being  the  useful  and  practical  teacher  needed — that  typified  so 
thoroughly  the  other  professors.  He  was  wanting  in  dignity 
and  that  strong  manly  personality  often  very  inspiring  to 
youth — such  as  stimulates  emulation  and  best  efforts.  At 
times  he  was  exacting  and  positive,  then  again  lenient  and 
conciliatory,  but  in  spite  of  idiosyncrasies  and  short-comings 
from  the  students*  viewpoint,  those  that  were  serious  could 
profit  greatly  under  his  tutelage — only  the  laggard  and  indif- 
ferent need  suffer. 

He  was  recognized  to  be  a  hard  worker,  seldom  wasting 
time  or  opportunity — even  utilizing  the  Sabbath  otherwise 
than  in  attending  sacred  service  at  church  or  chapel.  His 
reply  to  Dr.  John  Staige  Davis  when  approached — possibly 
reproached — for  devoting  the  Holy  Day  in  secular  duties  was 
handed  along  from  year  to  year  to  no  little  mortification  as 
well  as  amusement  of  the  students :  "  You  know  Doctor,  the 


444  UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA 

Good  Book  sanctions  helping  out  of  the  mud  and  mire  on 
Sunday  the  ox  and  the  ass,  and  my  classes  contain  so  many  of 
the  latter  that  I  am  kept  busy  rendering  assistance  from 
morning  until  night — I  never  can  have  rest." 

In  1872  he  was  appointed  by  President  Grant  a  special 
Commissioner  to  the  Vienna  Exposition,  but  by  the  opening 
of  the  session  that  autumn  he  was  again  back  at  his  post  of 
duty.  This  session,  my  first,  Professor  Schele  spent  in  Euro- 
pean travel,  so  that  Professor  Boeck,  in  addition  to  his  regular 
work,  assumed  charge  of  Senior  French  and  passed  upon  the 
graduates — that  which  proved  delightful  to  students  owing  to 
an  unusual  scarcity  of  failures.  He  resigned  from  the 
Faculty,  June,  1875,  under  what  was  believed  generally  a  re- 
quest from  the  Board  of  Visitors,  but  whether  this  was  true 
or  false  could  not  positively  be  affirmed ;  at  the  same  time  an 
absence  of  denial  went  far  towards  proving  its  correctness. 
We  never  heard  of  any  specific  charges  against  him,  except 
his  lack  in  assimilating  American  manners  and  the  University 
spirit. 

During  the  eight  years  of  his  professorship  he  organized 
the  Engineering  Department  on  a  high  plane,  and  sent  forth 
a  number  of  capable  men  who  reflected  credit  upon  the  institu- 
tion and  his  teaching.  If  none  other  than  the  late  lamented 
Samuel  Spencer,  I  am  confident  he  would  not  have  reckoned 
his  efforts  misspent,  far  less  a  failure — no  more  so  than  would 
Professor  Gildersleeve  for  his  one  grateful  and  scholarly 
product — Thomas  R.  Price.  But  there  were  others,  even  one 
— like  the  Gessner  Harrison  of  old,  who  was  found  worthy 
to  be  the  teacher's  successor,  possibly  an  improvement — to 
whose  shoulders  the  University  had  not  the  slightest  hesitation 
in  transferring  the  honors,  profiting  well  by  the  change.  And 
yet  there  was  no  student  who  knew  Professor  Boeck  but  what 
regretted  his  departure,  missed  his  genial  smile  and  guttural 
laugh.  For  years  his  name  and  personality  continued  to  be 
remembered  and  revered  to  a  pleasing  extent,  proving  that 
"  though  absent,  not  forgotten."  He,  however,  apparently 
retained  little  affection  for  the  University  and  the  many 
friends  formed  there,  as  in  his  later  years  neither  visits  nor 
letters  served  to  foster  and  maintain  that  association  which 
must  have  been  delightfully  pleasant  in  the  bygone.  Leaving 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  445 

the  University  he  took  up  residence  in  Philadelphia,  where  he 
continued  to  live  until  death,  in  1896. 

STEPHEN  OSBORNE  SOUTH  ALL — Some  weeks  passed  after 
entering  the  University  before  this  Professor  was  pointed  out 
to  me.  He  was  without  family  and  lived  with  Professor 
Holmes,  whose  tastes  and  sentiments  were  kindred — even 
sharing  the  same  lecture-room,  Rotunda  basement,  west.  This 
being  so  near  their  residence  required  little  circulation  in  the 
outer  world  for  the  discharge  of  duties,  consequently  as  Pro- 
fessor Southall — more  frequently  called  "  Old  South  " — 
seemingly  preferred  the  seclusion  of  home  he  was  not  a  very 
familiar  figure  upon  the  street.  However,  after  I  came  to 
know  him  our  lines  crossed  rather  often  and  always  with 
pleasant  recognition. 

He  was  then  fifty-five  years  of  age,  about  five  feet  eleven 
inches  high,  and  weighed  one  hundred  and  eighty  pounds. 
In  appearance  he  was  extremely  plain,  substantial  and  thought- 
ful— of  the  hardy  rural  type — having  the  face  and  head  cov- 
ered with  a  good  suit  of  beard  and  hair,  slightly  turning  gray, 
that  obscured  all  delicate  lines  and  expressions,  such  as  may 
seldom  have  existed  owing  to  a  serious  and  sober  realization 
of  life.  His  forehead  was  well-formed  and  prominent;  nose 
of  good  size  and  shapely;  eyes  normal  but  a  little  heavy  and 
in  receding  sockets  overshadowed  by  dense  shaggy  brows; 
step  firm  and  deliberate;  voice  rather  deep,  clear,  sonorous, 
well-modulated  and  controlled,  giving  him  a  reputation  among 
us  students  of  being  the  most  showy  extemporaneous  speaker 
in  the  Faculty.  Owing  to  this  gift  and  accomplishment  his 
lectures  always  were  well  attended  not  only  by  his  class  mem- 
bers but  frequently  by  outsiders.  Often  I  have  stopped  and 
joined  others  at  his  lecture-room  door,  when  on  ajar,  to  enjoy 
a  few  minutes  of  those  masterly  efforts,  only  each  time  to  go 
away  with  the  same  satisfactory  impression  and  belief  in  his 
exceptional  natural  powers  and  ability — a  conviction  shared 
alike  by  all  who  happened  thus  to  linger.  Those  under  him 
never  ceased  sounding  his  praise  in  this  direction  but  regarded 
his  department  and  teaching  inferior  to  Professor  Minor's. 

We  were  highly  pleased  whenever  he  was  selected  to  make 
some  public  announcement  during  the  "  Finals  " — realizing 


446  UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA 

that  it  would  be  done  well  and  bring  to  no  one  any  disappoint- 
ment. Who  can  forget  with  what  fervor  and  impressiveness 
he  awarded  the  Magazine  medal  to  Mr.  W.  W.  Thum  in  1874, 
in  approximately  these  acceptable  sentences  ?  "  I  am  deputed 
by  our  Literary  Societies  to  deliver  the  medal  due  to  the 
author  of  the  best  contribution  to  the  Magazine  during  the 
present  session.  It  gives  me  sincere  pleasure  to  deliver  into 
your  hands  so  flattering  a  testimonial,  because  I  think  that 
its  reception  should  be  an  occasion  of  .unalloyed  delight  to  you 
and  your  friends.  Your  success  will  be  followed  by  no  re- 
grets, as  it  has  been  achieved  by  no  indirection.  You  have 
pleased  by  manly  arts.  In  open  and  generous  competition, 
without  the  aid  of  collateral  influences  and  personal  consid- 
erations, you  have  gained  the  palm.  As  the  youthful  Alex- 
ander avowed  his  willingness  to  enter  the  arena  if  he  could 
be  confronted  by  royal  antagonists,  so  you,  in  your  degree, 
may  have  the  pleasure  of  knowing  that  you  have  encountered 
most  worthy  competitors.  And  though  you  have  outstripped 
them  all,  it  will  greatly  heighten  the  gratification  of  a  liberal 
and  chivalrous  spirit  to  be  informed  that  they  pressed  closely 
on  you,  and  were  not  ingloriously  defeated.  They  are  here  to 
witness,  and,  through  hearty  sympathy,  even  to  partake  of 
your  triumph.  For  by  a  slight  adaptation  of  a  couplet  of 
Pope's  I  may  add, 

In  a  living  medal  see  your  work  enroll'd, 
And  vanquished  friends  supply  recording  gold. 

Your  good  sense  will  suggest  to  you  that  this  early  success 
constrains  to  increased  and  persistent  effort.  Our  auguries 
of  your  future  usefulness  will  be  all  disappointed  should  you 
supinely  rest  contented  to  live  on  the  mere  memories  of  a 
youthful  triumph.  Laurels  are  grateful  to  the  young  brow, 
but  to  feed  upon  laurel-water  is  poisonous  to  the  strongest 
constitution.  It  was  an  ancient  fancy  that  the  laurel-wreath 
protected  its  wearer  from  the  thunderbolt,  and  it  is  a  modern 
experience  that  the  lightnings  of  the  public  censure  are 
launched  most  unerringly  at  the  devoted  head  of  him  who, 
resting  under  his  laurels,  fails  to  redeem  the  rich  promise  of 
his  youth  by  the  achievements  of  his  manhood.  Far,  very  far 
from  you,  Sir,  be  the  necessity  of  any  such  warning.  Let  us 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  447 

rather  hope  and  believe  that  your  own  high  aims  and  faithful 
endeavors  will  but  realize  the  fondest  expectations  of  your 
friends,  and  that  the  light  that  now  shines  upon  you  will 
broaden  into  a  long  day  of  unclouded  splendor.  With  these 
wishes  gladly  shaping  themselves  into  anticipations,  I  deliver 
this  medal.  Receive  it  with  the  fervent  congratulations  of 
your  friends  and  the  general  applause  of  the  public." 

Professor  Southall  was  regarded  as  a  model  postprandial 
speaker,  consequently  at  the  Alumni  banquets  responded  more 
frequently  than  his  turn  to  "  The  Faculty/'  and  always  with  a 
charm  of  manner  that  delighted  his  hearers.  One  of  my 
student  friends,  Cooper,  was  a  proverbially  poor  penman,  and 
upon  sending  to  one  of  his  home  papers  a  letter  concerning 
his  impressions  of  the  University  and  its  life  received  from 
the  editor  a  request  for  a  translation,  as  it  appeared  to  him 
an  effort  in  Chinese  or  some  unknown  tongue.  With  no 
little  warmth  of  feeling  he  showed  me  the  letter  as  well  as  his 
curt  and  settling  reply.  When  it  came  to  his  examination 
papers  in  Constitutional  and  International  Law  a  similar  ex- 
perience confronted  him,  as  Professor  Southall  soon  rec- 
ognized himself  against  an  ugly  proposition,  but,  being  able 
with  some  effort  to  make  out  the  signature  under  the  pledge, 
eased  matters  by  dispatching  a  messenger  to  the  author  with 
the  request  that  he  come  at  an  appointed  hour  and  decipher 
his  chirography.  After  the  conference  my  friend  told  me  that 
Professor  Southall  reprimanded  him  severely  for  such  care- 
less writing,  urging  an  effort  at  improvement — but  without 
effect  as  until  death,  a  few  years  ago,  his  personal  letters  were 
almost  illegible.  As  he  passed  successfully  this  examination 
companions  jeered  him  not  a  little  for  taking  the  Professor 
at  such  disadvantage — having  had  time  to  discuss  intelligently 
with  others  the  various  subjects,  he  could  give  correct  answers 
under  the  pretense  of  reading  them  from  the  pages. 

Professor  Southall  entered  the  Faculty  along  with  Pro- 
fessor Peters,  1866,  and  for  eighteen  years  remained  faithful 
in  the  discharge  of  his  duties.  In  my  day  he  was  recognized 
by  common  consent,  the  most  popular  professor  in  the  Uni- 
versity, but  how  and  why  I  never  knew — possibly  because  we 
were  not  well  acquainted  and  exteriorly  he  did  not  appeal  to 
me.  In  his  department  he  was  regarded  as  much  more  lenient 


448  UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA 

than  his  senior  colleague,  Professor  Minor,  and  that  may  have 
contributed  something  towards  assigning  praise.  He  died 
very  suddenly  of  heart  failure,  November,  1884,  at  the  Union 
depot,  whither  he  had  hastened  to  take  a  train,  and  was  laid 
at  rest  in  the  University  Cemetery,  near  the  scene  of  his  great- 
est and  most  enduring  life's  work. 

JOHN  RANDOLPH  PAGE — This  gentleman  had  only  received 
his  appointment  as  professor  of  "  Natural  History,  Experi- 
mental and  Practical  Agriculture  "  a  few  months  previous  to 
my  entering  the  University,  so  that  practically  we  reached 
there  at  the  same  time.  He,  however,  had  studied  medicine 
there  two  sessions,  1848-49,  1849-50,  and  upon  receiving  his 
diploma  in  that  department,  1850,  went  abroad  for  supple- 
mentary study  in  Paris.  He  also  had  been  chief  surgeon  in 
the  Confederate  service,  professor  in  Washington  University 
School  of  Medicine,  Baltimore,  and  later  in  the  Louisiana 
Military  Academy.  He  was  a  typical  Southern  gentleman,  a 
native  of  Gloucester  County,  Virginia,  and  then  had  just  en- 
tered his  forty-third  year.  He  was  about  five  feet  ten  inches 
high  and  weighed  one  hundred  and  sixty-five  pounds,  with 
hair  and  beard  abundant,  of  the  sandy  or  reddish  cast,  the 
latter  being  trimmed  moderately  short.  His  step  was  of  good 
length  and  somewhat  quick  which  tended  to  make  an  excel- 
lent walker;  manner  quiet  and  thoughtful,  seemingly  slow  to 
take  the  initiative  or  to  advocate  the  new  and  .untried.  He 
was  more  of  the  practical  than  the  visionary  type,  and  kept 
always  busy  with  his  own  affairs,  leaving  alone  those  of 
others.  He  was  plain  in  dress  and  taste,  suggestive  of  that 
which  he  taught — agriculture — although  his  course  included 
botany  and  zoology. 

Mr.  Samuel  Miller  of  Lynchburg  had  bequeathed  the  Uni- 
versity one  hundred  thousand  dollars  for  establishing  an  Agri- 
cultural Department,  and  in  order  that  this  might  be  effective 
the  University  set  aside  a  number  of  acres  west  of  Carr's  Hill 
as  an  "  Experimental  Farm,"  which  was  brought  to  a  high 
state  of  cultivation  for  growing  various  products.  Professor 
Page  had  supervision  of  this,  so  that  between  lectures  and 
applying  theories  to  practice  on  the  land  he  was  kept  busily 
employed.  Somehow  or  another  the  course,  as  similar  courses 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  449 

elsewhere,  was  not  popular  in  my  day,  it  having  never  more 
than  a  dozen  students,  that  which  tended  to  place  even  the 
professor  at  disadvantage,  if  not  in  discredit.  One  thing 
certain  we  students  did  not  attach  as  much  importance  to  his 
department,  as  to  the  others,  nor  did  all  accord  to  him  the  same 
acumen,  scholarly  knowledge  and  broad  culture  as  to  the  other 
professors.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  from  the  students'  viewpoint, 
possibly  due  to  short  identification  or  the  nature  of  subjects 
taught,  he  did  not  then  seem  to  affiliate  heartily  with  the  other 
Faculty  members,  or  they  with  him — that  which  may  have  only 
been  apparent  and  not  real.  No  doubt  after  moving  into  one 
of  the  pavilions — first  from  the  Rotunda,  West  Lawn,  just 
vacated  by  Professor  Gildersleeve — the  family  became  a 
stronger  factor  in  the  social  doings  and  spirit  of  the  Univer- 
sity, and  he  more  closely  united  with  everything  tending  to- 
wards her  progress  and  improvement.  After  occupying  the 
chair  fifteen  years  and  the  department  gathering  no  strength 
or  popularity — a  period  in  which  he  added  very  little  to  the 
world's  knowledge  of  scientific  and  practical  agriculture,  and 
absolutely  failed  to  bring  the  University  any  favorable 
notoriety — he  resigned,  1887,  and  removed  to  Birmingham, 
Alabama,  where  he  again  entered  upon  the  practice  of  medi- 
cine. Owing,  however,  to  declining  health  he  soon  aban- 
doned this  and  returned  to  the  pleasant  scenes  of  his  former 
labor — Charlottesville  and  the  University — there  passing  the 
remainder  of  his  life  and  dying  of  acute  Bright's  disease, 
March  n,  1901.  His  remains  were  interred  in  the  University 
Cemetery  by  the  side  of  many  whom  in  life  he  knew  well  and 
loved. 

THOMAS  RANDOLPH  PRICE — This  gentleman  was  called  to 
the  University  only  the  summer  (June)  preceding  my  last 
year,  consequently  I  saw  and  learned  of  his  personality  at 
close  range  simply  during  the  one  session.  A  number  of  our 
students  had  been  taught  by  him,  and  all  had  heard  of  his 
scholarly  attainments  as  well  as  the  distinguished  ability  with 
which  for  years  he  presided  over  the  department  of  Greek  and 
English  at  Randolph-Macon  College.  My  next  door  neigh- 
bor, Harding,  had  taken  the  Master  Degree  under  him  at  that 
institution,  and  this  was  his  fifth  year  at  the  University  in 


450  UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA 

pursuit  of  the  same  distinction  coupled  with  legal  knowledge. 
It  was  he  more  than  all  others  who  expressed  to  me  a  sense 
of  gratification  over  the  promotion  of  his  former  teacher,  de- 
lighting always  in  a  modest  way  to  sound  his  praise.  While 
we  all  acknowledged  the  loss  of  Professor  Gildersleeve  as 
irreparable,  yet  we  felt  half-way  reconciled  that  his  most  fav- 
orite product  was  to  be  his  successor,  and  had  the  hope  that 
some  day,  not  remote,  the  world  of  letters  would  regard  them 
as  equal — that  which  unfortunately  fell  short  of  realization. 
We  all,  however,  accepted  Professor  Price  as  the  one  ideal 
man  for  the  place,  knowing  well  that  he  had  been  inspired 
by  the  Hellenist  enthusiasm  of  Professor  Gildersleeve  to  seek 
foreign  study  under  the  great  linguistic  scholar,  Curtius,  and 
that  he  had  spent  his  three  years  at  Berlin,  Kiel,  Paris  and 
Athens  with  the  greatest  benefit  and  profit.  We  also  were 
mindful  of  the  fact  that  he  alone  was  recommended  by  Pro- 
fessor Gildersleeve  to  be  his  successor,  a  choice  in  which  the 
Board  of  Visitors  concurred  unanimously — a  condition  al- 
most unprecedented. 

Professor  Price  was  then  a  young  man,  considering  the 
honors  won  and  worn — just .  thirty-seven — and  in  physique 
belonged  to  the  medium-sized  type,  being  about  five  feet  ten 
inches  high  and  weighing  one  hundred  and  sixty  pounds. 
His  head  was  symmetrical  with  high  curved  forehead;  face 
somewhat  elongated,  revealing  a  clear  healthy  complexion; 
eyes  clear  and  penetrating;  voice  rather  fine — not  calculated 
to  entertain  a  promiscuous  audience — with  a  slight  hesitation 
or  irregularity  that  lessened  its  attractiveness.  He  wore  a 
heavy  brownish-black  moustache,  but  his  hair  of  similar  color 
was  becoming  thinnish  upon  the  crown ;  manners  were  affable, 
shrinking  and  retiring,  never  aggressive  or  self-centered ;  dress 
although  neat  was  sometimes  subject  to  notice  and  comment, 
especially  when  of  light  broad  plaids,  tightly  fitting  buttoned 
cutaway  coats,  and  pantaloons  not  as  long  as  regulation  de- 
manded; step  quick,  light,  easy  and  rather  short,  indicating 
to  a  degree  the  nervous  temperament.  His  general  person- 
ality impressed  the  precise  characteristics  he  possessed — se- 
riousness, enthusiasm,  studious  and  business  habits,  such  as 
alone  can  bring  the  best  success  in  any  calling.  His  inaugural 
address  was  delivered  in  the  Natural  Philosophy  lecture-room 
one  afternoon  shortly  after  the  session  opened,  and,  being 


Professor  John  R.  Page,  M.D.,  at  fifty -six 
1830-1901 

See  Page  448 


FACING  450 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  451 

public,  was  attended  by  professors,  many  students,  and  the 
lady  contingent  of  the  University.  It  was  a  scholarly  effort, 
comprehending  general  philology,  but  more  calculated  to  in- 
terest the  linguistic  student  than  the  average  individual.  At 
any  rate  we  regarded  it  able  and  thoroughly  worthy  our  new 
and  already  distinguished  Professor  of  Greek. 

For  a  home  he  was  assigned  the  "  Monroe  Mansion,"  which 
Professor  Venable  had  just  vacated,  owing  to  his  remarrying 
in  the  summer  and  sharing  thereafter  his  wife's  residence  in 
Charlottesville,  and  it  was  not  long  before  those  quiet  and 
saddened  halls  rang  with  mirth  and  glee  most  attractive  to 
those  more  youthful  and  unoppressed  by  affliction.  Mrs. 
Price,  nee  Triplet,  was  a  charming  hostess,  delighting  in  social 
functions,  and  was  fortunate  in  having  several  sisters  no  less 
gifted.  These  and  other  lady  friends  were  not  infrequent 
visitors,  so  that  their  dances  and  larger  entertainments  now 
and  then  gave  joy  and  delight  to  the  University  atmosphere. 
I  distinctly  recall  being  one  of  a  party  in  the  laboratory  who 
dyed  their  small  gray  sky-terrier  on  the  afternoon  preceding 
one  of  these  gatherings,  caring  well  for  the  little  fellow  until 
10  o'ck,  that  night,  and,  as  some  of  the  guests  entered  the  front 
door,  letting  in  their  supposed  lost  pet — now  grotesque  and, 
like  Joseph's  coat,  of  many  colors.  The  incident  as  intended 
produced  much  merriment  among  the  assemblage,  as  well  as 
great  delight  to  the  family  members  to  whom  it  was  a  ver- 
itable homecoming. 

Professor  Price  proved  a  very  acceptable  substitute  for  his 
illustrious  teacher,  even  attracting  the  first  year  a  larger  num- 
ber than  had  studied  there  for  years  the  Hellenic  tongue.  He 
was  popular  with  and  beloved  by  his  students,  and  extremely 
cordial  in  his  home  where  he  manifested  those  social  qualities 
that  made  none  a  stranger,  all  his  friends.  He  only  remained 
at  the  University  six  years,  when  he  was  called  to  Columbia 
University,  New  York,  to  preside  over  the  Department  of 
English — that  which  he  particularly  loved — where  he  re- 
mained faithful  to  continuous  labor  twenty-one  years,  until 
death,  May  7,  1903. 

O  much  enduring  soul  who  enterest  peace, 
Still  shall  our  love  for  thee  on  earth  increase; 
Now,  poet,  scholar,  soldier,  on  death's  plain 
Sleep  with  thy  early  friends  in  battle  slain! 


452  UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA 

WILLIAM  WERTENBAKER — This  gentleman  in  my  day  was 
the  only  one  associated  with  the  University  that  connected  her 
then  present  with  her  remotest  past,  as  all  others  had  .passed 
away  years  before,  except  Professor  George  Long,  the  first 
Professor  of  Ancient  Languages,  who,  after  a  residence  of  four 
years,  had  returned  to  his  native  country,  England  (whence 
Mr.  Jefferson  had  sought  him)  to  accept  the  chair  of  Greek 
in  the  then  newly  established  University  of  London.  There 
he  attained  a  far-famed  reputation — possibly  that  of  the  lead- 
ing classical  scholar  of  his  time  in  the  world — and  still  lived, 
old  and  decrepit,  with  little  interest  in  our  country  or  the  insti- 
tution and  its  founder  he  had  served  in  the  long  ago,  no  doubt 
forgetful  of  the  latter's  significance  and  bearing  upon  all 
American  interests — social,  political  and  educational.  Be 
that  as  it  may  we  students  knew  of  his  fame  and  of  his  sym- 
pathy with  the  South  in  her  recent  struggle,  for  which  as  well 
as  his  past  affiliation  with  our  University  we  revered  his  name. 
But  Mr.  Wertenbaker,  or  "  Old  Wert,"  as  we  affectionately 
and  more  frequently  called  him,  continued  "to  live,  move  and 
have  his  being  "  right  among  us,  indeed,  had  been  a  veritable 
pupil  of  Mr.  Jefferson,  imbibing  his  precepts  and  doctrines  as 
well  as  an  inspiration  from  his  personality ;  had  received  from 
his  hands  the  commission  as  Librarian,  and,  although  the  dis- 
crepancy of  ages  precluded  close  intimacy,  had  conversed,  sug- 
gested and  argued  many  questions  with  him.  It  is  true  as 
Mr.  Wertenbaker  admitted — he  was  most  too  young  at  that 
time  to  fully  appreciate  Mr.  Jefferson's  exceptional  greatness, 
but  a  growth  in  years  and  knowledge  had  made  him  an  ardent 
advocate  of  his  principles  and  inculcated  a  respect  for  his  name 
kindred  to  profound  reverence.  Even  Mr.  Jefferson's  last 
visit  to  the  University  was  by  appointment  with  Mr.  Werten- 
baker at  the  old  library  building — Professor  Noah  K.  Davis' 
pavilion — to  classify  and  catalogue  a  new  installment  of  books, 
and  in  conversation  this  pleasant  circumstance  usually  found 
mention.  Mr.  Wertenbaker  was  about  seventy-three  years  of 
age  when  I  first  came  to  know  him,  and  then  seemed  much 
more  infirm  than  those  years  often  indicate — indeed,  as  though 
his  days  were  numbered.  He  was  five  feet  eight  inches  high, 
and  weighed  about  one  hundred  and  forty-five  pounds,  being 
considered  rather  a  small  man.  His  face  was  of  the  diminu- 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  453 

tive  type  and  much  wrinkled;  hair  thin  and  gray;  attitude 
when  standing  somewhat  stooped,  slightly  nervous,  palsied 
or  tottering;  voice  a  trifle  nervous,  guttural  but  decisive  and 
often  clear;  gait  slow,  deliberate  and  firm — always  walking 
with  a  cane,  and  body  leaning  slightly  forward;  manners  re- 
served and  positive,  never  familiar  or  obtrusive — friendly  but 
strictly  business-like.  He  never  seemed  idle  and  could  be 
found  mostly  sitting  at  his  table  engaged  in  writing,  which  he 
did  very  slowly  in  a  cramped  nervous  style.  Indeed,  he  would 
often  continue  his  work  apparently  unobserving  your  approach 
until  you  addressed  him  by  name.  Old  persons  have  always 
appealed  to  me,  and  by  being  gracious,  respectful  and  consid- 
erate seldom  fail  to  gain  their  favor  and  friendship.  Here  I 
experienced  no  trouble,  for  after  a  short  season  I  felt  not  the 
slightest  hesitation  or  restraint  in  talking  upon  all  subjects,  or 
in  interrupting  him  whenever  my  interest  suggested.  He  had 
a  remarkable  memory  in  some  directions,  especially  for  the 
location  of  books,  seldom  having  to  look  in  a  second  place  for 
any  given  one.  The  Library  catalogue  was  old  and  far  from 
complete,  as  most  of  the  accessions  for  years  had  been  filed 
away  in  alcoves  without  special  memoranda,  his  mind  being 
sufficiently  reliable  to  carry  accurately  the  place  of  each. 
When  you  asked  him  for  any  book,  pamphlet  or  manuscript 
he  referred  to  nothing — simply  told  you  at  once  whether  or 
not  it  was  in  the  Library,  if  out  who  had  it,  if  in  and  you  de- 
sired it,  unlocked  the  case  and  produced  it.  He  was  moder- 
ately conversant  with  the  general  scope  of  literature,  aiding 
often  in  locating  material  pertaining  to  the  many  phases  of 
our  student-work. 

To  him  was  intrusted  the  making  up  of  each  annual  cata- 
logue, securing  bids  for  printing,  addressing  and  mailing,  so 
that  the  early  months  of  the  year  found  him  unusually  busy. 
He  conducted  all  correspondence  referring  to  library  books, 
contents  thereof  and  queries — historic  and  otherwise — coming 
within  the  province  of  his  knowledge,  filled  in  and  signed  di- 
plomas, and  the  last  two  years  of  my  stay  used  all  spare  time 
in  arranging  a  new  catalogue  of  the  Library's  books,  having 
now  been  given  in  his  work  an  assistant,  Mr.  Frederick  W. 
Page,  who  a  few  years  later,  1881,  assumed  entire  manage- 
ment. In  my  earlier  years  the  Library  did  not  seem  so  well 


454  UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA 

patronized  as  it  deserved,  but  after  the  various  magazines  and 
college  publications  were  assigned  special  tables,  one  on  either 
side  of  the  entrance,  increased  interest  was  aroused,  as  at  all 
times  some  students  could  be  found  there  profiting  by  the  con- 
tact. There  being  no  assistant  at  first  the  hours  were  re- 
stricted to  i o  to  i  in  the  morning  and  2  to  5  in  the  afternoon, 
while  owing  to  Mr.  Wertenbaker's  slow  pace  and  slightly  re- 
mote home  the  dinner  hour  was  sometimes  prolonged.  He, 
however,  was  very  conscientious  in  the  discharge  of  duty  and 
observed  time  the  very  best  physical  infirmities  permitted. 
He  appreciated  his  position — considered  it  highly  honorable 
—and  was  zealous  of  its  included  rights  and  powers.  He  be- 
longed to  the  old  school,  of  which  there  are  few  left,  endeav- 
ored always  to  do  right,  and  expected  consideration  as  well 
as  respect  from  every  one,  especially  those  more  youthful. 
While  we  students  never  placed  him  on  the  same  plane  with 
the  professors,  yet  they  appeared  to  look  upon  him  as  a  kind 
of  paternal  spirit  deserving  all  honor  and  kindness — that 
which  they  invariably  accorded.  Through  this  worthy  example 
we  learned  to  appreciate  and  regard  him  with  the  full  value  his 
position  entitled,  and  with  that  he  seemed  perfectly  satisfied. 
I  am  confident  he  never  received  from  any  of  us  discourteous 
treatment,  and  if  that  had  been  attempted  he  would  have  been 
quite  capable  of  taking  care  of  himself  with  forceful  and  con- 
temptuous language. 

Beyond  the  personality  of  Mr.  Jefferson,  incidents  of  Dab- 
ney  Carr,  Presidents  Madison  and  Monroe,  along  with  the 
early  days  of  the  University,  he  also  enjoyed  telling  you, 
when  in  the  humor,  something  of  Edgar  Allan  Poe,  who  was 
a  student  with  him  at  the  University  in  1826,  when  he  re- 
ceived his  appointment  as  Librarian  from  Mr.  Jefferson.  As 
so  much  had  been  affirmed  against  Poe's  younger  career, 
especially  that  at  the  University,  Mr.  Wertenbaker  took  great 
care  and  pride  in  defending  it  at  all  times  and  occasions 
against  what  he  was  pleased  to  term  "  the  wild  aspersions 
and  vagaries  of  his  would-be  traducers." 

Mr.  Wertenbaker  was  an  ardent  and  experienced  chess 
player,  and  often  could  be  seen  at  the  game  with  one  or 
another  friend,  usually  Dr.  Michie,  in  the  back  room  of  the 
latter's  drug  store.  Of  course  this  was  always  outside  of 


UNIVERSITY    OF   VIRGINIA  455 

Library  hours,  generally  late  afternoon,  and  served  a  pleasant 
diversion  from  thoughts  of  physical  infirmities  and  a  mo- 
notonous routine  life.  Mr.  Wertenbaker  remained  faithful  to 
his  post  until  two  years  after  I  left  the  University,  1879,  when 
he  became  disabled  by  a  stroke  of  paralysis.  Although  from 
this  he  partially  recovered,  yet  he  seldom  visited  the  Library 
thereafter,  being  allowed  to  retain  nominally  the  position  un- 
til 1 88 1,  when  he  was  succeeded  by  Mr.  Page.  He  lingered 
only  a  short  period  after  this  event,  dying  in  April,  1882,  just 
eighty-five  years  of  age. 

M.  GREEN  PEYTON — This  was  the  first  gentleman  I  met  up- 
on reaching  the  University  having  any  official  connection 
therewith,  and  of  that  meeting  sufficient  mention  has  already 
been  made.  He  was  then  forty-four  years  of  age  with  a  some- 
what older  appearance,  being  the  father  of  grown  children,  the 
eldest,  Bernard,  then  one  of  the  brightest  and  manliest  type  of 
students.  With  Major  Peyton,  or  "  The  Proctor,"  as  he  was 
called  indiscriminately — possibly  the  former  more  frequently 
— we  all  had  to  come  in  contact  sooner  or  later,  some  oftener 
than  others,  as  payments  could  be  made  entire  or  in  portions 
according  to  individual  convenience  and  preference.  Through 
his  hands  passed  all  students'  fees,  and  as  in  those  days  he  had 
no  assistant,  even  in  the  busiest  seasons,  we  in  making  our 
financial  arrangements  and  settlements  sometimes  drifted  into 
pleasant  conversation.  He  also  controlled  the  letting  of  rooms 
and  seemed  solicitous  that  each  secure  the  one  preferred,  even 
going  to  extremes  to  make  us  pleased  and  satisfied.  Likewise 
the  boarding  houses  were  under  his  charge  so  far  as  our  allot- 
ment to  them  was  concerned,  and  whenever  we  desired  a 
change  to  one  outside  of  our  room  territory  he  had  to  be 
consulted — but  never  in  vain.  He  was  our  purveyor  of  coal, 
although  this  could  be  purchased  on  the  outside — that  seldom 
done,  as  we  were  contented  perfectly  with  his  product  and 
prices — and  any  complaint  pertaining  to  it,  or  to  room,  room- 
attendance,  board  and  boarding  house,  that  came  to  his  ears 
received  speedy  attention  and  correction.  He  was  about  six 
feet  one  inch  high  and  weighed  two  hundred  pounds.  His 
temperament  was  sanguine  and  complexion  florid ;  hair,  mous- 
tache and  beard  slightly  sandy  or  reddish ;  voice  clear,  distinct, 


456  UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA 

penetrating,  of  moderate  pitch  and  middle  register;  manners 
affable  and  friendly — inclining  to  be  talkative.  He  alone  of 
all  identified  with  the  management  of  the  University  enjoyed 
the  reputation  of  being  a  high  liver — fond  of  good  things  to 
drink  as  well  as  to  eat — but  no  one  stood  ready  to  verify  the 
fact.  So  far  as  liquid  indulgence  was  concerned,  we  under- 
stood that  he  abstained  always  until  after  office  hours,  3  o'ck, 
p.  M.,  when  often  he  would  be  joined  by  Professor  Southall — 
spirits  congenial  in  war  and  peace — to  pass  together  pleasantly 
several  hours.  This,  however,  I  fancied  overdrawn — simply 
college  talk — as  it  could  hardly  have  applied  to  Professor 
Southall,  whose  duties  were  so  continuous  and  exacting  as  to 
preclude  a  wasting  of  time,  far  less  a  subversion  of  feeling. 
It  did  not  take  much  of  a  foundation  to  construct  a  mammoth 
edifice  according  to  some  students'  conceptions,  and  here  a 
single  trite  occurrence  might  have  given  rise  to  what  they  pro- 
claimed innocently  a  continued  practice.  Anyway  they  got 
the  blame  but  no  shame.  I  personally  came  into  the  presence 
of  Major  Peyton  many  times,  socially  and  officially,  and 
while  his  deeply  flushed  face  was  frequently  an  object  of 
notice,  yet  I  never  detected  the  slightest  overstimulation. 
Some  persons  can  assimilate  large  quantities  of  stimulants 
without  visible  indications  by  word  or  act,  while  others  are 
rendered  talkative  and  voluble  by  small  amounts,  but  Major 
Peyton's  long  service  in  the  one  capacity,  thirty  years,  and  the 
faithful  discharge  of  many  duties,  is  sufficient  testimonial  of 
his  unusual  ability  and  correctness  of  habits.  His  was  a 
responsible  position  and  only  the  most  honorable,  methodical 
and  self-reliable  could  have  been  intrusted  with  its  exacting 
detail. 

His  home,  just  south  of  the  office  and  about  the  center  of 
East  Range,  was  most  hospitable  and  enjoyable  to  visit,  where 
his  very  affable  daughter,  Miss  Champe,  and  good  wife,  of 
like  name,  dispensed  the  entertaining  menu  with  sufficient 
grace  and  fullness  as  to  attract  every  evening  a  good  comple- 
ment of  appreciative  students.  Occasionally  lady  friends  from 
far  and  near  found  a  pleasant  sojourn  there,  thus  lending  ad- 
ditional charm  and  brightness  to  the  callers.  The  family  was 
strongly  Episcopalian  and  upon  Mrs.  Peyton  learning  that  a 
Mr.  Davis,  my  close  friend,  had  been  made  superintendent  of 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  457 

the  Chapel  Sunday  School,  she  sent  for  him  in  order  to  im- 
press the  necessity  of  instilling  into  the  children  as  far  as  pos- 
sible the  forms  and  services  of  her  church.  My  friend 
responded  gallantly  to  the  summons,  and  after  listening 
through  her  appeal,  quietly  replied :  "  Why,  Mrs.  Peyton,  I 
am  a  staunch  Baptist,  believing  in  the  least  possible  church 
form,  and  besides  the  University  is  known  in  our  broad  land 
as  being  non-sectarian,  consequently  I  would  be  dishonest  to 
my  teachings  and  her  traditions  to  foster  the  ritual  and  creed 
of  any  specific  church  or  denomination."  Her  great  surprise 
can  well  be  imagined,  as  she  had  taken  him  to  be  a  high- 
order  churchman  until  that  moment.  In  the  embarrass- 
ment, however,  he  treated  her  gentlemanly,  but  upon  return- 
ing to  his  room,  next  to  mine,  stopped  in  and  related  the  cir- 
cumstance with  no  little  surprise  and  feeling.  Shortly  after 
my  day  at  the  University  the  family  had  its  share  of  sorrow, 
as  Bernard,  the  shining  star,  in  the  flush  of  manhood  and  a 
brilliant  career,  as  a  railroad  magnet,  met  an  untimely  death 
in  the  wrecking  of  a  train,  while  Miss  Champe,  the  embodi- 
ment of  ambition  and  hope,  did  not  long  survive  her  advent 
into  womanhood.  All  four — father,  mother,  son  and  daughter 
— now  rest  in  the  University  Cemetery,  near  where  in  life 
they  contributed  so  much  to  so  many  enjoyable  scenes.  The 
"  Major  "  lived  to  be  nearly  sixty-nine  years  of  age,  dying 
April  1 6,  1897. 

HENRY  MARTIN — It  would  be  unpardonable  in  these  per- 
sonal enumerations  not  to  include,  at  least,  something  concern- 
ing this  most  respectful  and  courteous  colored  janitor,  whom 
we  variously  called  "  Henry  "  or  "  Old  Henry  "—Sweet  Bell- 
ringer — and  whose  duties  for  years,  nay,  generations,  consist- 
ing in  ringing  on  and  off  the  hourly  recitations,  taking  charge 
of  the  Rotunda  fires  and  lecture-rooms,  have  been  performed 
most  faithfully.  Indeed,  material  is  not  wanting  for  him  to 
receive  a  very  generous  consideration,  as  his  personality  seems 
somewhat  imprinted  or  interwoven  with  nearly  every  student 
since  the  day  he  first  began  tautening  the  pendulous  rope.  Each 
of  us  could  relate  some  pleasant  episode  or  circumstance  in 
which  he  would  creditably  figure,  for  to  all  he  was  so  friendly 
—professor,  student  and  stranger  receiving  alike  that  indis- 


458  UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA 

criminating  urbanity  which  always  commands  genuine  ad- 
miration and  respect,  the  more  from  it  not  being  forced  or 
over-indulged.  He  defended  the  professors  and  never  uttered 
a  preference  for  anyone,  although  often  importuned — they  all 
in  his  sight  were  fine  gentlemen  and  that  was  invariably  his 
expressed  opinion.  He  knew  his  part  in  life  and  played  it 
well.  There  was  no  goading  to  duty  needed,  because  he  re- 
garded himself  one  of  the  wheels  in  the  clock  very  essential 
for  the  correct  working  of  the  mechanism,  therefore,  that  he 
perforce  must  live  up  to  every  obligation  or  else  friction  and 
irregularity  would  ensue.  He  also  fully  recognized  that  he  was 
neither  a  professor,  a  student,  nor  a  white  man;  that  he  did 
not  own  the  University  and  that  she  could  get  along  satis- 
factorily with  some  one  else  in  his  stead.  Possibly  above  all 
that  commended  him  was  his  strict  attention  to  his  own  busi- 
ness and  the  non-meddling  with  that  of  the  others — unless  ap- 
proached. In  my  experience  I  do  not  recall  the  bell  pealing 
out  of  time,  and  yet  that  must  have  occurred  to  prove  human 
error  and  fallibility.  In  spite  of  his  many  duties  he  was  al- 
ways ready  to  do  a  service,  provided  that  be  possible,  and 
whether  the  monetary  compensation  was  forthcoming  or  not, 
that  which  was  less  expected  in  those  than  these  days,  mat- 
tered little  to  him — for  to  serve  was  his  delight. 

He  has  told  me  repeatedly,  always  with  an  evident  degree 
of  pride,  that  he,  an  infant,  was  brought  down  from  yonder 
mountain,  Monticello,  the  very  year  of  Mr.  Jefferson's  death, 
1826,  having  been  born  about  that  time  a  part  and  parcel  of 
that  estate,  so  soon  thereafter  scattered,  as  by  the  four  winds. 
He  was  a  dark  mulatto  with  yellowish-brown  skin,  about  six 
feet  two  inches  high  and  weighed  one  hundred  and  ninety 
pounds.  His  head  was  well-shaped,  rather  large  and  appar- 
ently intellectual ;  hair  abundant,  blackish  and  almost  straight ; 
forehead  curved  but  broad  and  high ;  cheek-bones  prominent ; 
mouth  large,  as  was  also  his  nose,  this  latter  being  well  pro- 
portioned; eyes  rather  large  and  grayish-blue.  He  wore  a 
moustache  and  goatee,  both  thin,  black  and  of  long  fiber. 
For  several  years  after  leaving  the  University  I  returned  to 
the  "  Finals,"  always  having  a  hand-shake  and  talk  with 
Henry,  but  there  followed  an  interval  of  fifteen  years  without 
seeing  those  classic  shades  save  from  a  passing  car  window. 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  459 

However,  in  1894,  my  wife  and  myself,  en  route  to  Asheville, 
N.  C.,  decided  to  stop  off  at  the  University  for  a  day  and 
night,  and  in  doing  so  soon  ran  upon  Henry.  After  a  few 
words  of  salutation  I  remarked :  "  Well,  Henry,  of  course 
you  do  not  remember  me?"  To  which  he  replied:  "Yes, 
I  do ;  I  cannot  call  your  name  but  you  are  from  Delaware  and 
you  were  a  student  here  eighteen  or  twenty  years  ago."  We 
hear  so  much  of  retained  identity  and  remembrance  that  I  was 
glad  to  have  had  a  witness  in  my  own  experience  to  even  this 
extent  of  accurate  memory.  But  to  show  how  his  mind  had 
weakened  in  three  years,  when  in  1897,  on  our  way  to  the 
Hot  Springs,  Virginia,  we  spent  an  equal  time  at  the  Univer- 
sity, he  had  forgotten  not  only  my  personality  but  our  former 
recent  visit.  He  then  asked  me  if  I  would  not  like  to  have  his 
picture,  and  upon  my  thanking  him  for  the  compliment,  he 
expressed  the  intention  of  having  some  taken  in  the  near 
future  when  I  should  have  one.  True  to  his  word  a  year 
later,  September,  1898,  he  sent  the  photograph  which  has 
been  reproduced  in  this  volume.  I  have  seen  him  several 
times  since,  the  last  being  April,  1905,  when  the  changes 
brought  by  age  were  very  noticeable. 

As  I  look  back  upon  the  record  of  that  colored  man,  recall- 
ing the  various  phases  of  his  character,  his  uniform  courtesy, 
his  diplomatic  and  inoffensive  nature — never  irritating  even 
the  youthful  southern  blood — his  manly,  truthful  and  straight- 
forward manner  under  all  times  and  conditions,  it  seems  to  me 
he  was  worthy  a  tenement  of  whiter  clay.  Too  true  his  type 
will  soon  have  passed  away,  and  possibly  in  his  color,  "  I  shall 
not  look  upon  his  like  again." 


CHAPTER    XXIV 
SUMMARY  OF  UNIVERSITY  LIFE — DUTIES  VERSUS  PLEASURES 

University  life  falsely  understood  by  many;  in  truth  exacting  and  filled 
with  cares,  but  had  a  bright  side.  Unusual  condition  at  the  University 
for  close  study  and  thorough  scholarship.  Methods  of  diversion- 
pleasurable  walking,  ball  games,  gymnasium,  skating,  theatricals, 
minstrels,  short  trips,  attending  church,  Bible  and  public  lectures. 
Social  visiting— dancing,  receptions,  games,  horseback  riding,  driving, 
musical  instruments  and  practice;  debating  societies;  secret  fraterni- 
ties. University  laws  seldom  violated,  etc. 

MANY  who  have  never  enjoyed  a  college  or  university  train- 
ing incline  to  surround  that  life  with  a  halo  of  diversified 
pleasure — such  as  from  their  own  viewpoint  contributes  sim- 
ply to  passing  the  time  acceptably.  Most  of  them  remember 
well  their  individual  experience  in  acquiring  the  educa- 
tion they  possess;  their  joy  or  pain  at  the  closing  of  the 
final  student-page,  and  their  delight  or  sorrow  at  the  retrospect 
as  the  years  come  and  go.  Beyond  this  false  conception  some 
believe  that  those  with  advancement  sufficient  to  enter  the 
higher  institutions  have  done  so  less  through  personal  effort 
than  an  inherent  aptness  for  absorbing  all  things  unknown; 
that  this  being  a  fact  the  equation  of  study  need  enter  little 
into  the  so-called  student's  daily  doings,  and  instead  thereof 
he  breathes  an  atmosphere  of  perfect  comfort,  ease  and  in- 
dolence verging  sometimes  on  to  raillery,  debauchery  and  pos- 
sibly lawlessness.  Those  who  have  entered  the  silvery  portals 
know  better  how  to  speak,  and  I  am  confident  if  all  were 
entreated  for  an  expression  of  opinion  their  verdict  would 
come  in  no  discordant  sounds,  but  in  a  single  emphatic  mono- 
tone— university  student-life  is  exacting  in  its  demands,  and 
like  every  other  successful  business  has  daily  problems  claim- 
ing from  all  serious  attention.  Of  course  in  every  aggre- 
gated mass  of  humanity  assembled  for  a  specific  purpose,  and 
having  in  common  the  same  ultimate  object,  there  will  be  al- 
ways a  few  either  more  matured  in  years,  excessively  bright 
or  stupid,  over  or  under  prepared,  or  wayward  by  intention — 
dissenters,  nay  sometimes  disturbers — but  these  are  so  over- 

460 


Professor  Thomas  R.  Price,  Uv.D.,  at  thirty-eight 
1839-1903 

See  page  449 


FACING    460 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  461 

shadowed  by  the  persistent  thinking  majority  that  their  pres- 
ence creates  only  a  gentle  breeze,  which  gives  strength  by 
fanning  the  dominant  sentiment — work — into  more  universal 
acceptance.  Indeed,  it  cannot  be  otherwise  with  a  higher 
student-body,  where  the  ambition  of  the  many  is  to  acquire 
abundant  knowledge  in  any  given  line  with  the  hope  of  mak- 
ing something  out  of  themselves,  fully  conscious  that  the  kind 
of  foundation  laid  at  the  university  controls  largely  the  kind 
of  structure — success — to  be  erected  thereon  in  after  life.  As 
a  matter  of  fact  the  lighter  weights  soon  fly  to  distant  parts 
or  bring  themselves  in  conformity  with  the  prevailing  spirit, 
since  to  the  average  individual  there  is  little  satisfaction  in 
groping  singly  along  a  chosen  path — the  mere  thought  of  no 
companion  in  a  contemplated  pleasure  is  intimidating  and 
repulsive,  quite  enough  usually  to  cause  abandonment.  The 
impression,  however,  must  not  be  conveyed  that  the  great 
majority  of  my  day  University  students  were  sober-sides, 
weighted  by  cares  and  years,  depressed  by  the  sad  scenes  and 
conditions  of  the  recent  past,  from  whose  influence  the  South 
was  then  just  emerging.  On  the  contrary  they  were  by  no 
means  insensible  of  youthful  exuberance  and  instincts  so  es- 
sential for  evolving  the  progressive  man  and  the  higher  man- 
hood; they  were  free  from  malicious  intent  and  puerile  fan- 
tasies, therefore,  like  any  other  body  of  young  men  trained 
at  home  under  various  regimes  inculcating  respect  to  law, 
order,  parents  and  all  others  in  authority.  Such  when  re- 
moved temporarily  to  a  distant  soil  lost  none  of  the  character- 
istics and  vigor  incident  to  transplanting  but  inclined  to  grow 
in  wisdom  and  knowledge  as  though  continually  under  supe- 
rior guiding  hands.  If  we  cast  around  several  conditions,  not 
existing  at  all  institutions,  may  be  found  that  then  played  a 
strong  part  towards  our  general  good : 

First. — It  was  an  exceptionally  democratic  body  of  young 
men  exercising  no  restriction  in  their  association  with  one 
another,  consequently  it  mattered  not  the  slightest  whether 
one  be  an  upper  or  lower  classman,  or  his  department  aca- 
demic, law,  medicine  or  engineering — all  lived  and  vied  to- 
gether as  a  happy  family.  The  older  enthusiast  of  law  or 
medicine  was  as  liable  to  select  an  academic  freshman  for  a 
boon  companion  or  room-mate  as  one  more  kindred  to  his 


462  UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA 

age  and  line  of  thinking— all  alike  arranged  for  pleasurable 
walks  and  talks  irrespective  of  everything  except  good  com- 
panionship. 

Second.— Members  of  the  professional  departments,  being 
older  and  in  a  degree  settled,  exercised  upon  the  more  youth- 
ful, by  this  unrestricted  contact,  a  strong  impression  of  the 
maturer  manly  character.  Many  were  at  least  twenty-five, 
some  beyond,  while  a  few  had  seen  Civil  War  service  with  its 
disfigurement — without  an  arm  or  leg,  having  to  hobble 
around  on  crutches  or  canes.  Not  a  small  percentage  at  the 
close  of  hostilities  had  sought  employment  in  various  lines 
for  several  years  thereby  earning  quite  enough  to  defray  Uni- 
versity expenses,  consequently  all  such  had  sown  their  wild 
oats  and  frowned  upon  those  evincing  an  inclination  to  seed 
a  crop. 

Third. — The  South  had  been  impoverished  so  by  war,  es- 
pecially in  means  and  professional  men,  that  many  students, 
sensible  of  the  conditions  oppressing  them,  left  nothing  un- 
turned to  accomplish  the  most  in  the  shortest  time.  They 
realized  their  inevitable  fate  of  having  to  face  the  world  solely 
on  personal  merit;  that  no  material  helping  hand,  barring 
friendly  sympathy,  awaited  their  graduation  to  boost  them 
into  prominence ;  that,  their  fair  land  needing  faithful  workers 
in  all  lines,  it  should  be  their  honest  effort,  so  far  as  ability 
and  training  go,  to  contribute  liberally  towards  supplying 
the  want. 

Under  these  somewhat  anomalous  stimuli  it  could  have 
scarcely  been  expected  otherwise  than  that  the  students  of  that 
period  should  have  been  serious,  thoughtful  and  painstaking 
workers — possibly  unequaled  in  any  other  day  and  generation 
at  the  University.  Facing  these  facts,  little  would  seem  pos- 
sible to  be  infused  into  that  studious  life  for  relieving  pressure 
and  creating  diversion,  but  as  already  narrated  on  various 
pages  the  majority  did  accept  something  on  the  outside  that 
promoted  health  and  prevented  monotony.  All  thoroughly 
recognized  the  evil  of  sedentary  habits,  so,  despite  the  great 
demand  and  need  of  time  for  study,  the  strife  against  this 
tendency  continued  religiously,  often  at  the  cost  of  conve- 
nience and  effort.  It  was  only  during  my  last  two  years  that 
we  had  a  well-equipped  gymnasium,  made  attractive  by  the 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  463 

many  forms  of  helpful  apparatus  and  acting  as  a  center  for 
developing,  contesting  and  exhibiting  a  training  in  manly 
exercise  and  sports.  Prior  to  this  a  few  horizontal  and  paral- 
lel bars  stationed  here  and  there  in  the  open — available  only 
in  dry  and  pleasant  weather,  when  they  were  well  patronized 
— made  up  our  equipment  for  systematic  muscular  excitement. 
It  is  true  most  of  us  possessed  Indian  clubs  and  dumb-bells 
— I  still  use  mine  occasionally — which,  after  sitting  several 
hours  under  mental  tension,  would  be  called  into  service  a  few 
minutes  thereby  better  oxygenating  the  blood  and  giving  it  a 
more  healthy  circulation.  Apart  from  these  simples,  that  ever 
more  passive  exercise — walking — received  the  greatest  ap- 
proval. While  the  majority  of  us  had  nine  lectures  a  week, 
some  one  or  two  more  or  less,  and  the  University  occupied 
considerable  territory — the  lecture  and  dining  halls  being  re- 
mote from  our  rooms — thereby  occasioning  the  covering  of 
much  space  each  day  on  foot,  yet  this  enforced  walking  was 
not  regarded  sufficient  out-of-door  recreation,  especially  as 
there  was  attached  no  direct  relaxation  or  pleasure.  As  a 
result  whenever  weather  permitted,  and  it  usually  did,  after 
all  lectures  were  over,  5  o'ck,  p.  M.,  we  journeyed  along 
some  divergent  public  road,  private  path,  or  more  frequently 
down  to  Charlottesville — a  trip  readily  completed  in  time  for 
supper,  6  o'ck — where  the  sidewalks  were  always  in  creditable 
condition  and  usually  the  varying  scenes  more  interesting. 
In  addition  to  this,  for  several  years  preceding  the  erection  of 
the  Lewis  Brooks  Museum,  upon  the  upper  portion  of  the 
long  triangular  plot  converging  to  a  point  at  the  Post-office, 
many  of  us  during  the  autumn  and  spring  utilized  the  space 
for  foot-ball.  The  game  as  played  then  certainly  was  ragged, 
governed  by  few  rules  but  many  men,  and  although  a  violent 
exercise  was  devoid  of  serious  danger  from  the  fact  that  every 
one  apparently  had  mercy  on  the  "  under  dog."  About  4.30 
o'ck,  a  few  students  with  the  ball  would  divide  into  sides, 
begin  to  kick,  run  and  hollo,  only  to  be  a  signal  for  those  near 
to  rush  out  and  join  in,  while  other  recruits  were  captured 
gradually  from  passers-by,  who  may  originally  have  left  their 
rooms  for  a  walk,  until  frequently  a  couple  of  hundred  were 
enjoying  the  sport  enthusiastically.  We  had  goals,  fpul-lines 
and  captains,  and  endeavored  to  divide  so  that  each  side  would 


464  UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA 

have  equal  representation,  but  otherwise  the  game  was  very 
much  on  the  go  as  you  please  order.  Although  generally 
one  of  the  number  I  do  not  recall  seeing  displayed  any  temper 
or  unkind  feeling,  far  less  bitter  contention,  as  the  exercise 
was  fostered  simply  for  its  supposed  value  to  physical  de- 
velopment, and  when  sufficient  circulation,  as  each  determined 
for  himself,  had  been  established  we  withdrew  quietly  with- 
out criticism,  form  or  ceremony.  The  practice  never  de- 
veloped in  my  day  an  eleven  thought  worthy  to  enter  contests 
with  other  institutions,  and  I  do  not  remember  ever  hearing 
the  realization  of  such  an  idea  hoped  for  or  discussed. 

Then  again  every  spring  we  had  a  baseball  team  of  by  no 
means  uniform  merit,  whose  members,  about  twenty,  during 
the  last  two  months  of  the  session  indulged  in  little  other  exer- 
cise than  that  of  required  daily  practice.  For  one  or  two 
years  the  sport  was  confined  to  the  home  circle,  exhibition 
games  being  played  now  and  then  between  the  first  and  second 
nines  on  the  regular  grounds  to  the  left  of  the  road  leading 
to  the  Cemetery,  but  several  seasons  we  considered  ourselves 
sufficiently  strong  to  exchange  challenges  with  Washington 
and  Lee  and  other  less  formidable  clubs.  Here  we  took  de- 
feat philosophically  when  it  came  and  in  order  to  make  em- 
barrassment lighter  suppressed  all  unnecessary  noise  of  the 
rooters  when  fortune  drifted  our  way.  While  visiting  teams 
were  considered  enemies  in  a  way,  yet  far  above  prevailed  the 
spirit  of  true  chivalry  and  the  recognition  that  it  was  only  a 
friendly  combat  between  our  guests  on  the  one  side  and  our- 
selves on  the  other. 

Charlottesville  was  no  longer  that  diminutive  village  of  the 
Jeffersonian  era,  when  it  was  feared  not  equal  to  assimilating 
a  small  student  colony.  It  had  grown  and  developed  into 
quite  a  commercial  and  social  center  with  beautiful  suburban 
country  filled  with  charming  hospitable  people,  and  altogether 
afforded  many  opportunities  for  profit  and  pleasure  to  the 
stranger  in  their  midst.  As  a  people  they  were  loyal  to  the 
University,  accepted  gladly  her  students  into  home  circles,  en- 
couraged willingly  their  youthful  amusements,  and  did  more 
than  could  reasonably  have  been  expected  in  condoning  puerile 
short-comings  and  making  a  temporary  residence  congenial 
as  well  as  attractive. 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  465 

At  the  Town  Hall  theatrical  plays  and  other  entertainments 
were  given  frequently  by  traveling  troups  and  local  talent,  and 
the  higher  order  of  these  were  patronized  liberally  by  the 
student-body.  We  did  not  hesitate  to  manifest  displeasure 
at  any  exhibition  falling  below  our  fancied  standard  or  to  in- 
dulge in  noisy  demonstration  at  that  which  specially  pleased, 
even  though  sometimes  it  annoyed  the  police  authorities.  Ow- 
ing to  the  apprehension  of  either  contingency  the  better  ele- 
ment of  the  town  people,  especially  ladies,  seldom  attended, 
consequently  as  a  rule  we  were  unrestrained  in  our  enthusiasm 
by  any  refining  influence  save  that  inherently  possessed  by 
some  and  fortunately  not  thoroughly  forgotten  under  such 
emergencies.  At  that  day  Sol  Smith  Russell  and  the  Berger 
Family  (Swiss  Bell-ringers)  seemed  most  popular  with  us, 
and  several  years  they  came  our  way  twice  during  the  season 
always  to  find  a  hearty  welcome  and  support.  Mr.  Russell 
enjoyed  young  life  and  the  intercourse  with  University 
students — a  feeling  strongly  reciprocated  on  our  part — so  that 
his  freedom  with  us  was  encouraged  and  manifestly  appre- 
ciated in  no  small  degree.  The  liberty  he  took  in  appealing 
to  various  students  in  the  audience,  John  R.  McDaniel  Irby 
and  others,  to  corroborate  the  truthfulness  of  amusing  asser- 
tions invariably  called  forth  unstinted  applause  and  satisfac- 
tion. His  unique  composition  on  "  The  Horse,"  concluding 
with — "  but  for  me,  give  me  the  big  white  horse  with  a  flowing 
mane  and  long  tail  or  give  me  death  " — served  to  bring  much 
amusement  and  laughter. 

For  one  or  two  years  a  number  of  musically-inclined  and 
semi-comic  students  banded  themselves  together  under  the 
name  of  "  University  Minstrels,"  giving  one  or  more  exhibi- 
tions of  their  talent  in  the  Town  Hall.  These  to  most  of  us 
were  highly  entertaining,  well  patronized  by  University  and 
town  people,  and  served  to  develop  among  the  participants 
not  only  a  strong  personal  loyalty  but  a  certain  self-assurance 
from  stage  contact  which  could  not  have  been  obtained  else- 
where— laying  for  some  the  foundation  of  a  broader  and  more 
useful  field  in  after  life.  Mr.  George  D.  Fawsett  was  decidedly 
our  best  comedian,  and  according  to  our  judgment  made  an 
inimitable  end-man.  He  afterwards  adopted  as  a  vocation 
the  stage  and  theatrical  management  with  commendable  sue- 


466  UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA 

cess.  Mr.  Benj.  D.  Whiteley  as  center-man  took  the  part 
well,  as  did  Mr.  Frank  B.  Ives  and  most  of  the  others  in  the 
cast.  Who  that  witnessed  the  performances  fails  to  recall 
vividly  the  favorable  reception  of  the  many  songs,  including 
lines  like  these? 

I  went  to  the  animal  fair, 

The  birds  and  beasts  were  there; 

The  little  baboon,  in  the  light  of  the  moon 

Was  curling  his  auburn  hair. 

If  dat  ain't  so,  I  hope  I  may  die, 

I  w'd  have  you  all  to  know,  Sir. 

You  lose  your  head  and  both  your  eyes, 

At  P.  T.  Barnum's  show,  Sir. 

The  establishment  of  the  "  Squibb  Gymnasium  " — the  first 
at  the  University — during  the  early  months  of  session  1875- 
76,  filled  a  long-felt  want,  especially  among  those  preferring 
indoor  exercise  and  that  with  such  apparatus  that  favored  cer- 
tain lines  of  physical  development.  Often  in  late  afternoons 
many  more  would  be  found  there  than  could  conveniently  be 
accommodated,  except  through  the  process  of  patiently  wait- 
ing turns,  but  in  the  morning  hours,  just  before  and  after 
dinner,  one  could  cavort  around  in  perfect  satisfaction — with- 
out the  slightest  interference.  Those  of  us  rooming  near-by 
frequently  ran  in  at  irregular  times,  shed  hats,  coats  and  vests, 
and  accepted  a  ten-minute  shake-up  that  removed  many  bodily 
cobwebs.  During  the  freezing  period  not  a  few  indulged  in 
skating  on  the  University  ice-pond,  or  Cochran's  pond  a  short 
distance  beyond  Charlottesville,  where  hundreds  of  young 
ladies  and  gentlemen  were  wont  to  assemble  in  afternoons — 
some  as  interested  spectators,  others  to  enjoy  in  reality  the 
exhilarating  recreation.  Students  owning  skates  and  too 
busy  at  certain  times  to  exercise  with  them  were  generous  in 
passing  them  along  to  others  who  fortunately  knew  their  use, 
so  that  many  rather  than  a  few  reaped  pleasure.  With  a 
goodly  number  occasional  trips  were  popular,  such  as  spending 
over  Sunday  in  Richmond,  Washington,  Staunton,  Lynch- 
burg,  or  at  some  less  remote  home  of  friends,  whose  hospi- 
tality on  such  occasions  knew  no  bounds.  For  important 
events,  as  dedications  and  inaugurations,  the  time  accepted 
was  longer  and  the  contingent  going  much  larger. 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  467 

Taken  as  a  body  we  did  little  studying-  on  Sunday,  only 
those  having-  early  Monday  lectures  feeling  compelled  to 
violate  the  sacredness  of  the  day.  We  were  great  church- 
goers, always  appearing  there  in  our  best — about  the  only 
occasions  the  majority  accepted  for  wearing  such.  In  the 
morning  we  usually  heard  a  sermon  at  one  of  the  down  town 
churches,  and  at  night  attended  the  Chapel  or  Public  Hall,  ac- 
cording to  which  was  in  use.  Some  of  us  also  enjoyed  Pro- 
fessor Minor's  Bible  class  or  the  Sunday  School  early  in 
the  day,  and  Professor  Davis'  Bible  lecture  in  the  afternoon, 
while  others  took  long  journeys  into  the  country  on  foot — to 
Monticello  or  even  points  more  remote. 

After  the  first  year  or  two  not  a  few  ceased  devoting  their 
entire  time  to  University  duties  and  allowed  a  certain  portion 
for  social  pleasures — visiting  young  ladies  in  the  University, 
Charlottesville  and  suburban  country,  and  entering  into  some 
of  the  diversions  their  lives  offered,  such  as  dancing,  attend- 
ing Germans,  receptions,  lawn  games,  etc.  Thus  that  con- 
tingent was  brought  under  a  refining  influence — culture — 
that  gave  permanent  elevation  to  character  and  always,  irre- 
spective of  time  and  place,  must  count  for  much  good.  By 
this  we  came  to  realize  something  of  the  home-life  of  the 
kindly  people  making  up  the  warp  and  woof  of  that  section 
of  the  great  Commonwealth,  to  enjoy  their  confidence  and  to 
treasure  their  memory.  A  number  of  us  were  fond  of  horse- 
back riding,  so  every  now  and  then  during  spring  a  half- 
dozen  or  more  would  hire  such  available  animals  as  could  be 
had  at  livery  and  leisurely  traverse  the  tortuous  and  hilly 
roads  characteristic  of  the  locality.  Sometimes  it  would  be 
westward  towards  Ivy,  or  southward  to  North  Garden,  or 
out  High  Street  or  Ridge  Road,  but  mostly  to  Monticello  or 
down  over  the  free  bridge  to  Shadwell,  Edgehill,  Castlehill, 
etc.  When  not  inclined  to  such  passive  exercise  we  would 
get  carriages  (barouches)  holding  four,  in  which  five  or  six 
often  crowded,  and  enjoy  a  less  lengthy  drive  to  some  rural 
home  for  a  friendly  call — conversing  en  route  upon  topics 
most  congenial  and  accepting  for  our  betterment  the  open 
air  and  beautiful  scenery  so  profuse  in  those  surrounding 
landscapes.  In  snowy  spells,  that  came  seldom,  sleighing  was 
popular  with  the  natives,  and  sleighs  with  fairly  good  horses 


468  UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA 

and  abundant  bells  could  be  hired  by  us  students,  but  the 
prices  ranged  so  high  as  to  preclude  all  save  a  favored  few 
from  indulging  the  pleasure. 

The  only  time  recognized  by  common  consent  for  visiting 
one  another  was  the  hour  following  supper,  when  all  felt  at 
liberty  to  encroach  upon  the  sanctity  of  friends'  rooms,  ac- 
cording to  individual  inclination  and  preference.  Of  course 
some  intimates — clubmates,  relatives,  etc. — failed  to  observe 
this  regulation,  but  knew  to  what  extent,  and  took  no  excep- 
tion at  a  reminder  of  being  too  busy  for  entertaining.  In 
seasons  of  greatest  pressure — when  nearing  examinations — 
all  such  social  amenities  practically  ceased,  as  the  great  ma- 
jority kept  well  to  themselves  in  the  effort  at  bringing  credi- 
table results. 

Those  who  were  musical  often  spent  the  evening  hour  in 
some  one's  room  where  several  of  the  more  skilled  performers 
enjoyed  separate  and  concerted  practice,  much  to  the  delight 
or  disgust  of  those  within  audible  range.  Some  were  gifted 
and  had  passed  the  amateur  stage,  while  others  were  novices 
with  abundant  ambition  and  hope,  so  that  the  variety  certainly 
tended  to  make  the  spice  of  life. 

One  winter  Harris,  Mountjoy  and  a  number  of  us  became 
interested  in  hypnotism,  spiritualism,  occult  manifestations, 
rappings,  etc.,  and  occasionally  spent  the  hour  in  manipulat- 
ing the  table  and  chairs.  Of  our  number  only  one  was  found 
to  be  a  true  medium  and  he  soon  inclined  to  avoid  the  meet- 
ings, thereby  denying  the  rest  much  amusement. 

The  legal  students  and  others  who  aspired  to  forensic  at- 
tainments concerned  themselves  not  a  little  with  the  two 
literary  societies — Jeff,  and  Wash. — attending  faithfully  the 
Saturday  night  meetings,  which  became  popular  and  edifying 
largely  through  their  expended  talent  and  effort.  There  ex- 
isted between  these  societies  a  slight  rivalry,  but  only  enough 
to  encourage  the  joining  of  one  or  the  other.  Membership 
in  either  was  open  to  all  students  simply  by  paying  an  initia- 
tion fee  but  could  not  be  held  in  both  at  the  same  time.  Secret 
fraternities  were  numerous— some  fifteen  or  twenty — and 
membership  therein  counted  for  much.  Indeed,  without  it 
I  never  considered  life  complete  at  the  University,  although 
some  highly  commendable  men  resisted  the  affiliation  on  the 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  469 

plea  of  greater  contentment  in  perfect  freedom.  But  un- 
fortunately for  them  this  was  only  a  fancied  conception 
through  not  knowing  the  whole  truth,  for  nothing  could  be 
more  satisfactory  and  delightful  than  the  loyal  friendship  of 
a  dozen  or  more  companions  drawn  together  closely  by  fine 
fellowship  and  the  treasured  secrets  held  inviolate  among 
themselves.  While  I  recognize  the  possibility  of  having  one 
or  more  black  sheep  in  the  fold — those  with  peculiarities  non- 
assimilative  by  the  majority — yet  this  need  play  no  serious 
part  if  the  honest  effort  be  made  by  the  stronger  characters 
to  change  the  leopard  of  his  spots  and  a  determination  reached 
to  accept  and  tolerate  what  remains  in  a  fraternal  spirit.  Each 
fraternity  sought  the  supposed  best  element  of  character  and 
manhood,  according  to  its  conception,  liking  and  organic 
principles — thus  barring  one-half  of  the  student-body — but 
as  a  matter  of  fact  the  personnel  of  some  excelled  that  of 
others,  although  each  contained  a  number  of  sterling  fellows 
who  would  have  been  an  ornament  to — indeed,  in  the  absence 
of  previous  alliance  sought  after  by— any  organization  of 
friends.  Whatever  short-comings  fraternities  may  have  I 
contend  that  their  presence  in  moderation  is  healthful,  en- 
couraging and  stimulating  to  every  college  and  university 
community. 

I  occasionally  heard  from  companions  that  certain  acts  and 
doings  were  in  violation  of  the  University  rules,  but  so  far 
as  my  individual  experience  went  I  never  realized  that  she 
possessed  any  specific  code  of  government  for  herself  or  her 
students.  I  pursued  my  own  sweet  way  at  all  times,  observ- 
ing solely  moral  laws — seemingly  all  she  expected — ever  mind- 
ful of  the  purpose  for  which  I  was  there  and  the  duties  that 
ought  to  be  performed — not  to  please  the  University,  but  for 
my  own  personal  good,  present  and  future.  It  was  a  beauti- 
ful experience — the  passing  of  life  at  that  delightful  age, 
so  free  from  worldly  responsibilities,  so  full  of  prophetic 
hopes,  unconscious  of  a  restraining  hand,  conscious  of  the 
noble  examples  of  matured  masters  from  whom  all  coultl 
with  profit  take  mould  and  fashion.  I  only  played  one  game 
of  cards  while  at  the  University,  due  not  to  a  dislike  for  the 
amusement,  but  rather  to  a  recognition  of  it  containing  for 
me  at  that  age  and  financial  condition  the  element  of  danger—; 


470  UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA 

a  possible  growing  infatuation,  an  unwise  consumption  of 
time,  and  the  sad  parting  with  my  limited  amount  of  money, 
for  which  I  had  abundant  need  in  meeting  current  obligations. 
I  do  not  believe  that  many  students  disagreed  with  me,  for 
during  my  entire  course  I  heard  of  scarcely  a  half-dozen  who 
would  gamble  whenever  opportunity  presented — a  very  small 
contingent  that  accomplished  little  or  nothing  towards  an 
education,  and  created  for  themselves  among  college-mates 
other  than  an  enviable  name. 

During  those  years  I  indulged  in  no  whisky  or  brandy — 
only  two  or  three  glasses  of  beer  and  an  equal  quantity  of 
wine,  eggnog  and  apple-toddy  at  Christmas-times.  Thus 
while  more  temperate  than  some  I  was  less  so  than  others, 
as  a  large  percentage  absolutely  refused  all  kinds  of  stimu- 
lants. On  the  contrary,  however,  there  was  a  good  number 
who  looked  upon  them  with  favor,  having  been  brought  up 
in  homes  where  they  were  used  freely  by  the  elders,  not  for- 
bidden the  youthful,  and  considered  by  all  a  necessary  daily 
provision  of  the  table.  Indeed,  some  of  my  clubmates  had 
enjoyed  such  a  training  and  occasionally  on  Saturday  nights 
did  not  hesitate  to  overstep  the  limit  of  sobriety,  causing  the 
temperates  to  look  after  the  intemperates.  While  this  associa- 
tion might  have  been  regarded  very  suggestive  of  "  doing  like- 
wise," it  only  served  to  strengthen  my  aversion  towards  such 
thoughtless  abuse — a  sentiment  that  found  equal  lodgement 
in  the  minds  of  many  others.  We  were  men — free  agents 
to  accept  "  good  or  evil "  according  to  taste  and  pleasure — 
none  daring  to  encroach  upon  the  prerogatives  of  another. 
Those  preferring  occasional  conviviality  sought  others  of 
similar  inclination  and  did  little  towards  inducing  the  ab- 
stemious inclined  to  emulate  perverse  examples — usually  being 
well  satisfied  in  having  around  as  caretakers  such  as  were 
known  never  to  lose  their  heads. 

It  was  a  golden  opportunity  for  weaklings  to  weaken,  but 
the  more  mature  and  thoughtful — the  only  kind  belonging 
there — easily  resisted  the  glittering  temptation,  realizing  there 
was  only  harm  lurking  within.  Surely,  like  all  higher  insti- 
tutions of  learning,  the  University  was  a  fine  place  to  exhibit 
and  prove  innate  quality,  to  develop  and  mould  permanent 
character,  to  give  evidence  and  appreciation  of  a  mother's 


Librarian,  William  Wertenbaker,  at  seventy-five 
1799-1882 

See  page  452 


FACING  470 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  471 

training  and  a  father's  example — the  tree  bending  as  the  twig 
inclined.  The  going  wrong  of  a  young  man  there  was  no 
fault  of  his  companions — the  fountain  source  being  traceable 
to  earlier  days  through  inheritance  and  environment,  when 
the  proper  restraining  and  correcting  influences  failed  to  be 
applied  and  enforced.  At  the  University  he  was  only  taking 
liberty  with  opportunity,  that  which  would  have  been  accepted 
as  easily  elsewhere  and  possibly  to  a  far  greater  degree. 

No  student  of  that  period  can  fail  to  recall  the  industry 
and  seriousness  of  our  great  majority,  whose  ambition  seemed 
solely  for  improvement  and  cultivation  in  order  to  fill  ac- 
ceptably and  wisely  those  places  in  the  world's  affairs  as 
ordained  by  Divine  Providence. 


CHAPTER    XXV 
UNIVERSITY   TRAINING,    SELECTION    AND  CRITICISM 

Conclusions  and  observations.  College  and  university  training— some  more 
desirable  than  others;  all  improve  the  type  of  manhood  and  chances 
of  success  in  life;  none  makes  wise  men  out  of  fools.  Few  older 
heads  advise,  but  let  the  youthful  select  for  themselves.  University 
criticised  by  some  alumni  for  extreme  thoroughness,  and  other  insti- 
tutions for  excessive  weakness.  Kind  of  students  best  suited  to  attend 
the  University — some  should  not  go  there.  Conditions  especially  com- 
mending the  University  versus  those  considered  negative.  Opinions 
of  some  students  of  my  day — discussion  that  did  good. 

So  often  we  hear  from  even  the  knowing — it  makes  little 
difference  where  a  young  man  receives  his  educational  train- 
ing, for  after  all  it  is  in  the  man — that  many  accept  it  as  a 
self-evident  fact,  failing  to  accord  the  expression  serious 
thought  as  well  as  to  discriminate  between  the  half  and  whole 
truth.  If  the  saying  ever  found  earnest  recognition  it  never 
was  by  the  youth  of  our  land  when  preparing  for  his  specific 
college  or  university,  or  during  attendance  thereon,  for  then 
a  loyalty  to  his  own,  indeed  a  positive  preference,  pervades 
his  nature  that  challenges  the  admiration  of  matured  elders 
conscious  of  its  sophistry.  The  young  man  then  is  apt  to 
think  that  all  he  enjoys  is  best — institution,  professors,  labora- 
tories, museums,  gymnasium,  athletic-grounds  and  teams, 
even  local  girls,  climate  and  domestic  service — all  possibly 
except  board.  Certainly  that  no  other  in  quality  quite  com- 
pares. To  think  that  his  professors  of  Latin,  Greek  and 
Math,  are  without  equal,  despite  the  honest  belief  that  they 
assign  the  most  severe  and  cruel  tasks  and  demand  for  each 
the  strictest  account,  might  seem  a  trifle  irrational,  and  yet  it 
conforms  to  facts. 

As  he  drifts  out,  however,  upon  the  expanded  sea  of  ex- 
perience and  observation,  coming  here  and  there  in  contact 
with  fellow-men — brilliant,  capable,  talented,  towering  along 
with  himself  towards  the  accepted  summit  of  the  various 
honorable  pursuits;  those  still  remembering  much  of  their 

472 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  473 

French,  German,  logic,  ethics  and  psychology,  and  using  them 
with  best  results  when  opportunity  presents — he  no  longer  sees 
through  a  glass  darkly,  but  realizes  the  truth,  that  all  institu- 
tions do  some  good  work  and  turn  out  good  products.  After 
all  it  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  the  degree  of  success  attained 
in  life,  as  measured  by  the  world,  determines  unfortunately 
what  the  man  is,  and  by  many  persons  that  institution  might 
be  considered  best  which  yields  relative  to  her  numbers  the 
most  graduates  conforming  to  this  standard  of  public  opinion. 
Inasmuch  as  it  would  be  impossible  to  reach  undeniable  con- 
clusions along  this  line  according  to  merit,  not  a  few  prefer 
judging  institutions  by  their  equipment — able  faculty,  re- 
search laboratories,  fine  buildings,  writings  and  discoveries — 
believing  a  tutelage  in  such  an  atmosphere  not  only  healthful 
but  conducive  to  an  after  life  of  contentment  and  happiness, 
possibly  prominence.  As  a  fact  some  students  knowingly  and 
purposely  do  not  seek  the  best  institutions — desiring  certain 
training  as  a  means  towards  a  livelihood  at  the  smallest  mone- 
tary consideration,  regardless  of  the  literary  surroundings 
and  culture  that  so  often  make  for  the  greatest  comfort  and 
satisfaction  in  a  well-ordered  career.  Such  men  believe  that 
they  need  only  certain  useful  facts  and  principles;  that  the 
cheaper  and  quicker  these  can  be  obtained  the  better,  and  that 
any  good  institution,  of  which  there  are  many,  will  answer 
their  purpose.  But  if  the  more  subtle  advantages  of  an  edu- 
cational training  are  to  be  recognized  and  sought — something 
beyond  the  mere  familiarity  with  essentials  of  language, 
science,  philosophy  and  professions — great  differences  will  be 
found  to  exist  between  the  fountain  heads  of  knowledge,  and 
the  wisest  individuals  realizing  this  make  fewer  mistakes  in 
preference  and  selection. 

If  any  university  could  guarantee  to  all  her  matriculants 
future  monetary  prosperity — gain — and  that  without  exces- 
sive effort,  then  so  far  as  other  institutions  are  concerned, 
"  Othello's  occupation  would  be  gone."  The  truth  is,  that 
some  men  in  their  chosen  paths  will  attain  success  and  others 
failure,  irrespective  of  where  they  were  educated,  and  between 
these  extremes  the  most  important  point — often  determined 
by  chance — is  that  of  having  selected  the  college  or  university 
which  in  each  case  will  tend  towards  making  success  the 


474  UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA 

greatest  and  failure  the  least.  Many  of  us  have  seen  now 
and  then  foolish  persons  with  a  college  experience  without 
which  they  certainly  would  have  been  all  the  greater  fools,  and 
to  these  especially  the  choosing  of  an  institution  best  calculated 
to  strengthen  weakness  and  t9  control  peculiar  talents  is  of 
utmost  concern.  A  diploma  seems  to  imply  wisdom  and  to 
sharpen  the  expectation  of  all  things  educational,  and  that 
institution's  product  which  evades  the  detection  of  vacant 
spots  is  singularly  fortunate.  The  selection,  therefore,  in 
spite  of  seriousness,  lamentably  falls  too  frequently  upon  the 
young  men  themselves — parents  even  evading  direct  influence 
—and  at  a  time  when  most  of  all  a  firm,  convincing  word 
would  count  for  much  good. 

It  would  be  presumption  in  those  that  are  disinterested  to 
assume  the  roll  of  adviser  to  young  men,  knowing  nothing  of 
their  characteristics  and  little  of  other  institutions  than  the 
one  from  which  they  graduated.  Indeed,  in  this  day  thought- 
ful college-bred  men  hesitate  to  give  advice  in  such  matters 
unless  appealed  to  seriously  and  time  be  allowed  for  analyzing 
inherent  conditions.  One  must  be  chary  of  the  idle  prattler 
with  opinions  and  advice  always  on  tap,  free  gratis,  for  usually 
they  are  worth,  not  what  they  may  cost  you  if  accepted,  but 
what  you  paid  for  them — nothing.  In  my  student  period  I 
proclaimed  the  University's  praises  in  an  unstinted  manner, 
seeing  in  her  much  to  commend  and  little  to  condemn,  but 
with  the  larger  experience  of  years  in  institutional  work  and 
general  observation  an  intelligent  conservatism  has  replaced 
gradually  the  more  volatile  and  willful  enthusiasm  of  youth, 
causing  a  certain  reserve  in  influencing  and  directing  others 
along  lines  that,  although  believed  best,  may  not  be  followed 
knowingly  and  successfully. 

Some  years  ago  in  conversing  with  one  of  my  University 
contemporaries — one  who  not  only  took  her  high  honors  but 
has  attained  enviable  distinction  in  his  chosen  profession,  law 
—the  subject  of  educating  the  youth  was  introduced,  when  I 
casually  remarked :  "  Of  course  you  will  send  your  son  to 
our  old  University !  "  And  great  was  my  surprise  in  receiv- 
ing this  reply :  "  Not  if  I  have  anything  to  do  with  it."  Upon 
further  inquiry,  he,  with  an  emphasis  indicating  previous 
thought,  frankly  continued :  "  I  think  the  course  in  law  given 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  475 

there  in  my  day  unnecessarily  comprehensive  in  many  respects 
and  woefully  deficient  in  others.  During  my  twenty-five 
years  of  experience  with  the  business  world  I  have  found 
much  she  taught  useless  and  much  she  did  not  teach  useful — 
a  truth  which  I  believe  can  be  verified  by  many.  One  had  to 
work  so  hard  there  to  get  so  little  of  the  practical — that  out 
of  which  the  living  comes.  They  need  an  entire  recasting  of 
the  teaching  matter,  a  fact  that  applies  to  other  departments, 
notably  the  academic  with  which  I  also  was  connected."  Thus 
I  gathered  his  attitude — that  in  spite  of  retaining  a  fondness 
for  the  University  he  considered  her  requirements  excessive; 
that  she  taught  too  thoroughly,  thereby  tending  chiefly  to 
make  teachers.  Shortly  thereafter,  while  spending  a  portion 
of  my  summer  at  the  seashore,  I  came  often  in  contact  with 
a  prominent  judge — a  graduate  of  Princeton — who  one  day 
affirmed  having  a  son  preparing  for  college,  and  upon  my  re- 
marking, "  of  course  he  will  go  to  Princeton,"  a  reply  came 
that  was  also  a  surprise :  "  By  no  means — it  is  one  of  the 
last  institutions  in  the  country  to  which  I  would  willingly  send 
a  young  man."  Upon  my  further  inquiry  he  continued: 
"  Why,  when  I  entered  Princeton  thirty  years  ago  the  young 
instructors  and  adjuncts  assigned  to  teach  me  Latin,  Greek 
and  Math.,  during  the  first  three  years,  knew  scarcely  more 
about  those  subjects  than  I,  so  it  was  not  until  my  senior  year 
that  I  came  in  touch  with  fully  matured  professors — inspiring, 
knowing  teachers.  My  son  shall  attend  an  institution  that 
has  one  capable  professor  to  teach  each  branch,  and  by  whom 
it  will  be  taught  him  from  beginning  to  finish.  In  my  opinion 
Princeton  has  turned  out  during  the  last  generation  only  two 
men  beyond  the  ordinary — John  K.  Cowen  and  Woodrow 
Wilson,  the  latter  even  a  divided  product — and  an  institution 
with  her  opportunities,  wealth  and  numbers  that  can  produce 
no  better  record  is  undeserving  the  support  of  its  intelligent 
alumni."  Here  I  found  a  good  son  dissatisfied  with  a 
mother's  training,  regarding  it  except  one  year  superficial  and 
puerile — strange  to  say,  just  the  antithesis  of  the  complaint 
cited  against  my  own  University.  While  this  element  of 
depreciation  of  and  dissatisfaction  with  one's  own  is  a  genu- 
ine human  weakness  that  tends  sometimes  to  make  us  disavow 
a  preference  to  "  bear  those  ills  we  have  than  fly  to  others  that 


476  UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA 

we  know  not  of,"  yet  so  far  as  institutions  are  concerned  these 
personal  differences  of  opinion  and  valuation  generally  have  a 
law  of  compensation  that  establishes  an  equilibrium,  thereby 
happily  preventing  anywhere  a  perceptible  negative  reaction. 

I  am  often  asked :  "  If  you  had  a  son  would  you  send  him  to 
the  University  of  Virginia  ?  "  And  to  this  I  always  have  the 
one  reply :  "  That  would  depend  entirely  upon  his  natural 
abilities,  characteristics  and  inclinations " — following  with 
such  explanations  as  time  and  necessity  demand.  There  are 
at  least  three  types  of  sons  I  would  hesitate  to  send  there — un- 
fortunately numerous  in  this  age — all  weaklings,  undeserving 
of  kind  and  considerate  parents,  and  from  them  a  liberal  ex- 
penditure of  money,  as  usually  they  reflect  little  credit  upon 
the  institution,  parents  or  themselves.  First. — Those  wishing 
without  hard  mental  work — that  which  only  can  develop 
mind — the  credit  of  a  college  education  through  the  aid  of 
favoritism,  high-priced  tutors  and  coaches,  all  tending  to  pro- 
duce a  temporary  stuffed  tortoise,  a  creature  of  some  facts, 
little  sense  and  less  reason.  Second. — Those  in  their  boy- 
hood somewhat  incorrigible  and  defiant  of  discipline,  that  so 
needed  to  bring  them  into  acceptable  manhood,  as  without  it 
they  will  never  be  able  to  discipline  others — tendencies  that 
can  better  be  subverted  by  a  military  school  training,  after 
which  the  broader  development  of  the  University  might  be 
of  great  advantage.  Third.— Those,  fortunately  few,  desiring 
to  go  through  college  just  for  the  name  or  eclat  it  might 
bestow — not  for  the  honor  hoped  to  be  conferred  upon  it  by 
virtue  of  their  own  creditable  career  and  useful  life.  The 
University  of  Virginia  need  lay  no  claim  to  serving  such 
veritable  sycophants,  for  her  mission  is  in  a  more  exalted 
direction. 

It  is  the  grateful  son  of  honest  purpose,  studious  habits, 
erudite  mind,  in  a  degree  self-centered  personality — not 
younger  than  eighteen — that  feeds  best  at  her  shrine.  These 
will  profit  by  and  reflect  most  the  value  of  her  nurturing  care 
— to  whom  no  institution  in  our  fair  land  can  offer  more 
congenial  opportunities  for  thorough  knowledge  or  greater 
possibilities  for  furthering  satisfactorily  the  broader  de- 
velopment. 

Such  an  unqualified  statement  would  be  of  little  value  with- 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  477 

out  proof — found  in  the  special  conditions  that  cluster  around 
and  characterize  that  University  life : 

First. — Its  tendency  to  create  self-reliant  and  self-resource- 
ful men — but  seldom  those  of  haughty  independence.  From 
the  day  of  entrance  one  was  thrown  upon  his  own  responsi- 
bility— compelled  to  look  out  for  himself,  to  do  his  own  think- 
ing, studying,  planning,  selecting-  and  making  companions, 
perchance  friends.  There  was  little  time  for  assisting  or 
conferring  with  one  another  as  each  was  busy  solving  his 
own  troubles,  taking  the  keenest  pride  in  obtaining  unaided 
results.  There  were  no  coaches  or  tutors  for  rendering  the 
immediate  path  easier  and  the  future  shorn  of  its  best  intel- 
lectual usefulness.  We  had  no  money  for  such,  consequently 
they  could  not  exist — indeed,  each  individual  became  his  own 
tutor  by  the  hardest  work  and  application,  cultivated  his  own 
gray  matter  and  furrowed  his  own  brain  sinuses,  thereby  pre- 
venting their  ready  obliteration.  Each  investigated  and  re- 
searched for  himself,  soon  being  convinced  that  he  was  noth- 
ing or  something — able  to  stand  alone  without  the  prop  of 
others ;  each  carved  a  name  among  his  fellow  students,  no  one 
did  that  for  you — it  may  have  been  high  or  humble,  but  you 
had  yourself  alone  to  commend  or  condemn  for  the  record. 
In  a  degree  this  system  of  individual  working  without  as- 
sistance or  conference  has  a  negative  side — tending  to  make 
for  selfishness,  doing  the  best  for  self  and  self  alone,  un- 
fortunately a  quality  that  sooner  or  later  unencouraged  asserts 
itself  conspicuously  in  most  persons.  But  all  things  con- 
sidered it  redounds  possibly  in  far  greater  good  than  harm 
to  the  young  man  by  making  him  at  so  early  an  age  a  capable 
thinker,  a  self-reliant  and  self-assertive  personage — ready  to 
take  his  position  in  the  world  of  labor  and  battle  for  his  rights 
meritoriously. 

Second. — Its  total  freedom  from  hazing  or  anything 
verging  towards  it — a  custom  so  prevalent  at  many  institu- 
tions, but  always  as  cruel  and  wicked  as  it  is  pernicious  and 
unmanly.  Here  one  went  his  way  according  to  pleasure, 
without  meddling  or  being  meddled  with — the  first  and  fourth 
year  men  recognizing  no  distinction  from  point  of  residence 
or  experience,  all  being  the  same  in  the  eyes  and  respect  of 
each  other.  This,  however,  is  no  more  than  would  be  pre- 


478  UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA 

dieted  from  the  traditional  inheritance  of  the  place — that  each 
student  was  accepted  to  be  a  gentleman  and  so  held  to  ac- 
count. Fancy  if  you  please  any  set  of  men  interdicting  others 
from  wearing  silk-hats,  carrying  canes  or  gloves,  or  living 
at  certain  desirable  places,  and  you  will  witness  a  degree  of 
legal  resentment  decidedly  unpleasant.  Our  students,  in  spite 
of  the  home-life  and  college  spirit  from  domiciling  together, 
were  just  as  observant  and  defendant  of  the  inherent  rights 
of  one  another  as  are  men  in  the  broader  social  world,  tolerat- 
ing not  the  slightest  encroachment  upon  manly  prerogative — 
all  was  his  that  the  laws  of  the  land  granted,  irrespective  of 
age  or  position ;  none  could  have  more.  It  is  difficult  to  think 
seriously  of  one  or  more  reasonable  gentlemen  desiring  to 
humiliate,  humble,  insult  or  injure  another  by  inflicting  per- 
sonal harm  or  abridging  inalienable  freedom  or  pleasure,  but 
when  it  comes  to  a  body  of  immature  boys,  without  sufficient 
reason  and  control,  influenced  and  inflamed  largely  by  irra- 
tional impulses,  the  proposition  is  different — most  anything, 
often  the  unexpected,  can  happen.  It  is  the  difference  be- 
tween a  man  and  a  boy  institution  that  is  here  to  be  empha- 
sized in  favor  of  the  University,  where  the  more  mature  minds 
prevailed  and  controlled — such  as  could  best  profit  by  her 
higher  teaching.  Even  the  more  youthful  and  buoyant,  from 
contact  with  elders  and  severe  tasks,  lost  all  inclination  to 
plan  and  effect  crusades  against  the  comfort  and  dignity  of 
others,  so  that  it  was  only  during  the  first  few  days  of  the 
session,  in  the  absence  of  accumulated  work,  that  we  ever 
heard  of  "  dykes  " — escorting  with  fire-brands,  horns,  bells 
and  vocal  demonstration  a  calacoist  (one  who  visits  ladies)  to 
his  destination.  I  recall  two  of  my  years  in  which  even  suc- 
cessful "  dykes  "  did  not  occur,  only  several  attempts  wherein 
the  innocent  prey  sagaciously  deluded  the  knowing  pursuers. 
These  callithumpian  parades  were  void  of  harm,  as  the  sub- 
jects were  usually  untouched,  often  entered  into  the  spirit  of 
the  fun,  and  were  taught  a  wholesome  lesson — the  wisdom 
of  keeping  one's  own  counsel  and  the  absurdity  of  beginning 
a  university  career  with  social  rather  than  studious  inclina- 
tion. 

Third. — Its  honor  system  in  so  many  phases,  especially  on 
examinations,  where  it  afforded  so  much  ease  and  comfort  to 


Proctor,  M.  Green  Peyton,  B.A.,  C.E.,  at  sixty 
1828-1897 

See  Page  455 


FACING  478 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  479 

the  professors,  who,  during  those  long  hours — 9  o'ck,  A.  M.  to 
9  o'ck,  P.  M. — paid  little  or  no  attention  to  what  was  going  on 
around  them,  but  sat  reading  books,  magazines  or  papers,  or 
saying  an  occasional  word  in  undertone  to  a  congenial  col- 
league, who  never  forgot  each  other  on  those  trying  ordeals. 
It  likewise  brought  complete  satisfaction  to  the  students, 
who  recognized  that  none  was  trying  to  get  through  by 
hook  or  crook — all  on  the  square — each  desiring  credit  only 
for  that  which  he  honestly  deserved.  No  one  ever  hinted  at 
or  wanted  advantage  over  others,  and  had  it  been  offered 
without  fear  of  detection  or  with  a  monetary  bonus,!  am  con- 
fident that  at  least  nine-tenths  would  have  declined  it.  Not 
that  I  believe  we  were  better  than  many  young  men  elsewhere, 
but  as  the  very  life  of  the  place  seemed  fashioned  upon  a  code 
of  honor — an  inheritance  of  years — the  entire  student  com- 
munity imbibed  the  contagion,  becoming  averse  to  all  things 
tricky  or  unfair,  and  swearing  vengeance  against  those  who 
violated  a  sacred  trust  or  vow.  There  prevailed  an  absolute 
loyalty  to  the  sentiment,  "  United  we  stand,  divided  we  fall," 
and  all  pledged  their  honor,  yes,  their  lives,  to  uphold  its 
observance — to  see  that  "  no  guilty  man  escaped."  The 
signing  of  a  pledge,  therefore,  at  the  conclusion  of  an  ex- 
amination paper,  that  which  all  had  to  do,  meant  exactly  what 
the  words  implied — nothing  more  or  less.  The  violation  of 
this  honor  code  carried  a  penalty  no  one  felt  equal  to  bear — 
to  leave  the  University  at  once  under  student  escort,  without 
consulting  the  authority  or  pleasure  of  Faculty  or  Visitors. 
While  this  may  appear  anomalous  and  doubtful  to  the  un- 
familiar, yet  all  who  have  brushed  up  against  that  student- 
life  can  testify  to  its  accuracy,  and  the  stranger  by  visiting 
can  witness  with  appalling  surprise  its  beautiful  operation.  In 
my  day  no  one  fell  from  grace,  but  in  previous  years  several 
had  been  unfortunate,  and  their  example  lingered  as  a  verita- 
ble ghost. 

Fourth. — Its  direct  professorial  contact — the  complete 
absence  of  instructors,  adjuncts  and  assistants  of  doubtful 
knowledge  and  experience.  She  believed  that  her  reputation 
demanded  and  her  students  deserved  the  best,  and  fortunately 
only  such  were  sought  to  give  instruction — all  alike  were 
taught  from  first  hands,  thus  reducing  to  a  minimum  the 


480  UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA 

possibility  of  error  in  thought,  judgment,  word  or  expression. 
Everything  came  from  a  master  mind  in  so  far  as  years  of 
careful  study  and  investigation  could  create,  and  so  far  as 
acts  and  statements  went  we  grew  almost  to  believe  in  their 
infallibility. 

Fifth. — Its  student  personnel  and  contact,  which,  being  of 
so  high  a  type,  conduced  to  forming  the  better  and  broader 
character.  The  cream  of  the  South  was  assembled  there  as 
well  as  the  good  of  other  sections,  affording  a  composite  social 
and  friendly  set,  free  from  the  slightest  manifestation  of  a 
difference  in  caste  or  quality.  No  separation  or  alienation  ex- 
isted through  religion,  family,  politics  or  money — for  in  our 
minds  all  kinds  of  faith  appeared  good,  all  families  furnishing 
University  students  stood  high,  all  political  parties  had  re- 
deeming principles — indeed,  despite  ours  being  mostly  demo- 
cratic we  wisely  repressed  anything  offensive  to  those  who 
differed — and  all  kinds  of  riches  were  desirable,  not  indis- 
pensable, for  there  the  poor,  poorer  and  poorest,  for  none  had 
wealth,  apparently  knew  no  distinction — if  they  did  a  charita- 
ble disposition  prevented  overt  display  in  word  and  act.  The 
pompous  and  arrogant  son  of  wealth  had  not  yet  arrived,  so 
luckily  we  were  beyond  the  pale  of  his  demoralizing  influ- 
ence. As  a  fact  none  of  us  was  poverty  stricken,  but  all 
wisely  thought  themselves  not  far  removed,  consequently 
husbanded  well  their  resources  and  made  best  their  opportuni- 
ties— that  which  contributed  largely  towards  the  highest 
standard  of  scholarship.  The  daily  association  with  such  an 
honorable  body  of  young  men  could  not  be  otherwise  than 
helpful  and  inspiring,  as  it  reflected  so  much  that  was  good, 
so  little  that  was  evil.  It  is  true  we  had  a  few  exceptions  to 
this  ideal  substantial  type,  for  during  one  of  my  years  I  dis- 
tinctly remember  hearing  a  distinguished  gentleman,  the 
father  of  a  student,  boldly  affirm :  "  I  would  rather  see  the 
Devil  than  docility  in  a  young  man,  an  abundant  instead  of 
a  scanty  sowing  of  wild  oats — as  both  must  come  into  the 
lives  of  all  who  make  something  of  themselves,  and  the 
sooner  the  bad  is  got  out  of  the  system  and  the  settling 
process  assumed,  the  better."  His  son  was  of  the  rollick- 
ing kind,  after  the  father's  liking,  and  while  his  University 
career  was  certainly  desultory  under  passive  parental  en- 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  481 

couragement,  the  intervening  years  have  not  sufficed  for 
reaping  the  crop  of  his  early  seeding.  Another  distinguished 
man's  son  with  whom  I  was  identified  closely  at  the  Uni- 
versity possessed  a  similar  tendency  for  a  dissolute  and 
reckless  course,  but  realizing,  fortunately,  his  self-dependency 
and  the  necessity  of  study,  saw  his  erring  way,  ere  too  late, 
so  that  he  seemingly  sowed  without  reaping.  In  spite  of 
this  expressed  opinion  of  the  father  in  question  I  contend  that 
both  of  these  young  men  would  have  been  stronger  factors 
in  the  world  had  they  have  started  and  ended  with  simpler 
habits.  As  a  fact  this  small  percentage  of  such  individuals 
among  us  students  did  little  harm  beyond  themselves,  as  their 
irregular  doings  were  out  of  public  gaze  and  therefore  with- 
out flagrant  example. 

Apart  from  the  many  superior  advantages  of  the  Univer- 
sity it  may  be  pardonable  to  mention  several  negative  observa- 
tions— those  self-evident  to  every  alumnus  and  preventive  of 
the  most  perfect  inspiration  and  idealism. 

First. — As  to  the  honor  system.  Although  this  has  such 
a  strict  observance  throughout  the  student-life  there,  it  even 
possesses  an  element  of  weakness — the  lack  of  subsequent 
permanence.  How  is  it  that  young  men  "  live,  move  and 
have  their  being  "  in  this  supposed  purer  atmosphere — where 
the  manifestation  of  justice  and  the  defense  of  honor  at 
every  step  is  maintained — upon  getting  out  into  the  world 
often  find  the  sentiment  not  a  veritable  graft  or  inoculation 
of  their  nature  for  thinking  and  acting  always  honorable? 
One  might  think  that  a  residence  amid  these  lofty  incentives 
would  so  implant  rectitude  and  right-doing  in  its  votaries  as 
to  disincline  them  ever  afterwards  from  taking  advantage  of 
questionable  opportunities  and  their  fellow-men.  While  it  is 
highly  gratifying  to  know  that  the  great  majority,  especially 
those  whose  student-life  extended  over  a  period  of  years, 
stand  ever  firm  in  the  original  faith —  true  to  the  ideals  she 
fashioned  and  imparted — yet  it  is  correspondingly  sad  that 
some  have  perverted  their  careers  by  the  exercise  of  justice 
and  righteous  acting  only  when  conducing  to  personal  in- 
terest and  profit.  Some  are  known  to  have  been  willing 
partners  in  disreputable  schemes,  suspicioned  by  many,  trusted 
by  few  and  scathed  by  the  public  press ;  others  have  had  either 


482  UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA 

too  little  or  too  much  ambition  for  advancement,  and  in  fail- 
ure have  leveled  themselves  far  lower  than  pride  or  decency 
should  have  permitted.  One,  a  cotemporary  of  mine — indeed, 
an  occasional  chum — fell  so  far  as  to  die  in  the  penitentiary  a 
few  days  prior  to  completing  a  long  service;  another,  whose 
attendance  came  some  years  later,  went  so  far  as  to  pay  the 
penalty  of  his  crime  upon  the  gallows,  and  others  could  be 
mentioned  who  have  sadly  strayed  from  maternal  moorings. 
In  the  light  of  our  student  environment,  the  laudable  examples 
of  our  worthy  instructors,  and  the  ennobling  atmosphere  that 
breathed  into  our  manhood  "  the  soul  of  life,"  it  seems  "  pass- 
ing strange"  that  she  could  have  produced  a  list  of  base  tra- 
ducers  whose  gifts  and  opportunities  were  ample  for  con- 
tinuous righteous  action  and  the  absolute  safeguarding  of  self, 
alumni  and  honored  mother  from  the  stigma  of  lawless  acts. 
While  we  might  expect  such  to  be  the  product  of  some  institu- 
tions, yet  here,  the  nursery  and  brooder  of  the  honor  system, 
where  it  is  preached  and  practiced  continually,  it  becomes  a 
sad  commentary  that  even  a  few  are  destined  to  waywardness 
and  to  simulate  the  preacher's  sons — go  wrong  in  spite  of 
wholesome  example.. 

Second. — As  to  the  honor  men.  Although  some  who  seem- 
ingly profited  most  by  her  teaching  while  students  have  gone 
forth  into  various  pursuits  to  gain  and  reflect  measureable 
distinction,  the  far  larger  percentage  of  those  making  the 
greatest  impression  upon  their  times  only  enjoyed  her  ad- 
vantages one,  two,  or  at  best  three  years — leaving  her 
threshold  without  an  academic  degree.  Indeed,  in  some 
instances  only  several  of  the  separate  schools  have  been  passed 
through — a  training  scarcely  supposed  at  the  time  sufficient 
to  suggest  great  expectations.  And  yet  the  graduation  from 
a  single  school  need  not  be  valued  lightly,  especially  when  I 
recall  one  of  my  associates  in  Latin — an  A.  B.  of  Lehigh 
University — remarking  unsolicitously :  "  Of  the  two  diplomas 
I  prefer  that  just  taken;  it  represents  so  much  more."  Of 
course  I  am  unable  to  appreciate  fully  the  significance  of  the 
remark,  but  he  was  emphatic  in  its  declaration.  As  a  rule 
the  academic  degree  men  of  most  colleges  and  universities  are 
the  more  receptive  and  refulgent,  but  this,  strange  as  it  may 
seem,  is  not  true  with  those  trained  at  the  University  of  Vir- 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  483 

ginia.  Not  that  her  academic  degree  men  in  any  way  prove 
failures,  although  this  may  happen,  but  their  number  is  so 
insignificant  compared  with  the  non-degree  men — those  simply 
seeking  special  knowledge  along  the  line  of  supposed  need 
and  preference — that  the  latter  contribute  to  her  a  far  larger 
sum-total  of  prestige  and  renown.  It  is  lamentable  now 
and  then  to  see  her  higher  degree  men  as  second-rate  lawyers, 
ordinary  newspaper  reporters,  principals  of  small  academies, 
or  failures  in  the  commercial  world — seeming  satisfied  to  take 
life  easily  after  so  much  drudgery  at  hard  study.  Even 
many  of  those  graduating  in  her  professional  schools  with  the 
attainment  of  prominence  have  done  so  not  solely  through  her 
guidance,  as  many  legal  lights  previous  to  entering  that  de- 
partment received  a  bachelor  or  master  degree  from  another 
institution,  while  not  a  few  of  the  brightest  medical  stars 
have  not  been  content  with  her  degree  alone,  but  have  gone 
elsewhere  for  supplementary  clinical  courses,  thus  causing 
in  each  case  to  be  attributed  to  several  institutions  conjointly 
the  laying  of  that  foundation  which  brought  success  and 
honors. 

Third. — As  to  the  fealty  of  the  Alumni,  I  do  not  believe 
there  exists  an  institution  where  the  college  or  university 
spirit  dominates  more  thoroughly  the  student  life,  making 
every  one  while  there  not  only  loyal  sons  but  many  staunch 
friends.  Among  the  hundreds  of  Alumni  that  I  have  met 
during  the  intervening  years  only  a  few  have  failed  to  ex- 
press entire  satisfaction  with  her  methods  and  received  train- 
ing— invariably  emphasizing  the  retrospect  with  pleasant 
associations  and  episodes.  Even  though  this  be  true  it  is 
certainly  very  evident  that  in  some  instances  there  has  been, 
as  we  drifted  into  various  callings,  an  unmistakable  decadence 
in  the  ardent  fervor  of  youth.  As  men  move  forward  in 
finance  and  position  they  not  infrequently  incline  to  look 
askance  at  their  period  of  comparative  smallness,  sometimes 
openly  assigning  little  or  nothing  to  instructors  and  institu- 
tions— that  success  has  been  due  solely  to  ego,  whereas  in 
reality  other  powers  sat  behind  the  throne.  I  once  ap- 
proached a  millionaire,  suggesting  aid  in  behalf  of  the  Uni- 
versity, only  to  receive  the  cold,  curt  reply :  "  I  owe  her 
nothing — paid  my  tuition,  have  my  receipts,  honors  are 


484  UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA 

easy."  Such  a  man  must  have  had  a  very  brief  contact, 
profited  little  thereby  and  feel  conscious  wherein  lay  the  fault. 
He  certainly  would  not  do  much  to  further  her  interest  or 
to  strengthen  friendly  ties  among  the  ordinary  body  of  alumni 
— not  even  attend,  unless  possibly  as  central  figure — an  annual 
banquet.  He  is  a  spoiled  child  suffering  with  nervous  pros- 
perity— for  in  reality  his  mother  has  been  too  kind,  and  he, 
like  all  poorly  disciplined,  fails  to  recognize  filial  gratitude. 
But  this  gentleman  is  not  alone  in  his  self-centered  attitude, 
as  we  observe  the  senator,  the  judge  and  others  in  high  so- 
cial, political  and  financial  positions  often  breathing  the  same 
cold  air — to  have  been  resting  on  a  cooling-board  since  leaving 
the  altar  whose  emanations  made  possible  their  elevation. 
Indeed,  former  professors — from  whose  lips  profitable  wis- 
dom has  been  accepted  by  hundreds  who  would  delight  in 
paying  them  grateful  homage  in  their  ripening  years — have 
been  known  to  be  conspicuous  by  absence  at  local  alumni  ban- 
quets and  other  functions  remindful  of  the  pleasant  by-gones. 
All  such  may  have  ambition  in  keeping  with  the  policy  of  a 
certain  prominent  physician  who  one  day  seriously  told  me  he 
attributed  his  success  largely  to  social  retirement  and  re- 
stricted conversation  with  patients — ergo,  to  become  great  in 
others'  eyes,  keep  busy,  quiet  and  seclusive.  This  spirit  of  in- 
dependence and  indifference  on  the  part  of  that  contingent 
which  has  done  so  much  for  itself,  in  which  the  rest  of  us  have 
so  much  pride,  tends  to  weaken  the  great  possibilities  of  our 
Alumni.  Can  it  not  be  overcome  by  some  manner  of  means  ? 
Can  we  not  unify  ourselves  in  at  least  all  things  pertaining  to 
the  good  of  our  University?  If  so,  far  larger  will  be  the 
benefits  accruing  to  her  and  more  favorable  the  impressions 
abiding  with  us. 

Apart  from  these  observations  made  since  student  days,  of 
apparent  defects  that  might  with  advantage  be  corrected,  it 
is  only  fair  to  state  that  during  several  of  my  years  at  the 
University  there  was  considerable  talk  about  the  rigidity, 
inflexibility  and  severeness  of  her  requirements,  and  that  even 
lengthy  articles  appeared  in  the  Magazine  kindly  criticising 
the  same  and  offering  suggestions  for  what  the  student- 
writers  regarded  as  needed  and  urgent  improvement.  Thus  to 
quote  from  one — University  Reform :  The  desire  for  knowl- 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  485 

edge  has  completely  been  supplanted  here  by  the  desire  for  a 
diploma,  which  seemingly  has  become  the  first  thought — 
any  incident  and  convenient  knowledge  being  second.  Noth- 
ing is  more  dwarfing  to  the  mental  powers  which  are 
converted  into  a  machine  with  one  function  to  perform — 
answering  three-fourths  of  the  questions  on  examinations. 
Since  here  my  aim  has  been  to  seek  out  the  prominent  students, 
those  truly  original  and  independent,  having  minds  of  their 
own,  and  I  can  count  upon  my  fingers  those  whom  I  judged 
to  have  a  cast  of  power  and  profundity — few  gifted  with 
originality,  capable  of  developing  thoughts  and  converting 
them  into  a  connected  whole.  Their  thoughts  are  often  like 
the  stars  of  the  heavens — brilliant  and  beautiful,  but  isolated 
and  of  little  use  to  give  light;  unlike  the  sun,  able  to  pour 
forth  a  flood  of  light  and  illumine  that  with  which  they  come 
in  contact.  Another  kind  of  man  is  even  more  rare  here — 
the  investigator — who  proposes  to  himself  problems  to  solve 
and  subjects  to  investigate,  carrying  their  study  beyond  the 
limits  of  the  text  and  lectures.  Men  may  not  be  original, 
profound  and  powerful,  but  they  can  be  observant  and  in- 
quiring; they  can  look  into  the  nooks  and  corners  of  science, 
philosophy,  life  and  religion,  and  find  much  that  is  yet  un- 
opened that  would  yield  to  a  little  common  sense.  For  some 
of  these  problems  great  and  brilliant  powers  are  required,  but 
for  many — such  as  make  knowledge  profitable,  entertaining 
and  useful — only  ordinary  intelligence  is  needed.  Most  of 
our  graduates  who  keep  up  their  literary  pursuits  do  so  only 
in  the  school-room  as  village  pedagogues;  some  get  into  high 
schools,  but  only  a  few  attain  to  college  and  university  pro- 
fessorships. They  make  excellent  instructors,  sufficiently 
learned  for  their  purposes,  but  they  took  it  with  them  upon 
leaving  the  University  and  have  dispensed  it  yearly  without 
diminution  or  addition.  Their  intellectual  integrity  was  at- 
tained when  they  received  their  diplomas,  and  from  that 
moment  all  their  growth  ceased.  Our  alumni  rarely  investi- 
gate, write  books,  and  their  additions  to  knowledge  or  litera- 
ture are  small.  Is  this  due  to  the  University  system  or  to 
individual  capacity?  Both  are  defective.  The  habit  of  seek- 
ing diplomas  above  all  other  things  is  due  in  many  instances  to 
poverty,  in  others  to  contagion.  To  get  a  diploma  often 


486  UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA 

means  to  get  a  position,  which  results  in  a  rigid  confinement 
to  what  is  required  and  a  total  abstinence  from  everything 
else. 

These  developing  habits  of  mind  cannot  be  over-estimated, 
as  they  are  the  ultimatum  of  all  culture,  and  the  more  perfect 
their  attainment  the  more  valuable  and  useful  the  man.  In- 
vestigation is  nothing  more  than  the  application  of  principles 
and  tests,  the  habit  of  throwing  facts  into  critical  relations  and 
observing  the  results.  This  in  some  is  a  gift,  but  a  man 
ever  so  gifted  in  this  direction,  without  cultivation,  is  nothing, 
and  any  person  who  can  be  called  intelligent  has  sufficient  to 
be  made  useful  and  pleasant.  A  man  having  attained  these 
principles  of  truth  can  go  forward  into  new  regions  and  new 
subjects  with  the  power  to  discriminate  between  good  and 
evil,  the  true  and  false.  These  principles  apply  not  only  to 
the  fields  of  science,  but  to  various  business  pursuits,  enabling 
one  to  let  go  professional  strings  and  rely  upon  his  own  judg- 
ment. He  can  forsake  the  servile  conformity  to  the  intel- 
lectual force  of  another — he  has  the  power  to  advance  within 
himself.  Pursuing  an  education  but  missing  these  principles 
renders  the  vast  knowledge  an  incubus  and  a  gorge.  They 
can  tell  you  the  opinions  of  others  but  "  I  think  "  is  unknown 
in  their  vocabulary.  The  recognition  of  these  investigating 
principles  has  given  the  wonderful  impulse  to  modern  in- 
quiry, for  within  the  last  fifty  years  almost  as  much  accurate 
knowledge  has  been  collected  as  during  the  previous  six 
thousand.  These  principles  were  developed  first  by  scientists, 
then  caught  by  philosophers,  theologians  and  inquirists,  all 
entering  fields  of  knowledge  which  were  unthought  of,  deemed 
utterly  unapproachable,  only  to  expose  facts  which  will  ever 
be  the  wonder  and  delight  of  the  human  race. 

Something  must  be  done  at  our  University  to  correct  this 
weakness  if  she  is  to  maintain  her  position  as  the  ultimate 
educational  institution  of  the  South.  These  principles  must  be 
incorporated  and  that  prominently  in  its  course  of  instruction, 
for  this  age  is  very  impatient  of  the  useless  and  inefficient, 
and  its  veneration  for  antiquity  is  small — an  institution  ex- 
hibiting only  past  usefulness  will  elicit  but  little  sympathy  and 
support  in  this  day.  There  is  here  a  want  of  intellectual 
freedom  and  encouragement  of  thought — that  is,  a  higher 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  487 

encomium  is  bestowed  upon  mere  labor  than  upon  intellectual 
power. 

Whatever  the  principles  of  the  University  may  be  theo- 
retically, when  practically  applied  they  tend  to  crush  rather 
than  foster  mental  originality,  independence  and  investiga- 
tion. Our  professors  put  forth  untiring  efforts  to  explain 
and  logically  connect  every  part  of  their  courses,  so  that  the 
attentive  student  gets  a  true  idea  of  the  subject,  but  the  climb- 
ing to  the  greatest  heights  produces  nothing  but  weariness  if 
every  foot-print  is  marked  for  us.  Much  smaller  ascents  con- 
ducted by  ourselves  would  give  us  far  greater  confidence  and 
teach  us  more  useful  lessons.  One  becomes  wearied  in  fol- 
lowing the  thoughts  ^oi  the  professors,  having  only  to  attend 
to  what  is  pointed  out  to  him,  and  becomes  satiated,  even  dis- 
gusted. He  has  to  gulp  down  the  immense  selections  from 
the  vast  fields  of  knowledge  which  the  professors  present, 
and  digest  them  as  best  he  can,  that  as  a  friend  suggests,  "  it 
is  a  wonder  he  does  not  die  just  before  he  gets  through." 
The  habit  of  being  led  gradually  grows  upon  us,  and  at  last 
unfits  us  to  take  a  single  step  unless  our  next  foot-print  is 
marked — this  having  taken  hold  upon  a  man  his  doom  is 
certain. 

All  men  do  not  wish  to  study  the  same  subjects — some  pre- 
fer one  thing,  some  another,  and  all  should  not  be  compelled 
to  pursue  the  same  things.  This  is  the  weight  which  many 
students  here  feel — they  would  gladly  do  more  work  than 
required,  if  they  could  only  distribute  it  as  they  wished.  We 
need  the  profound  spirit  of  philosophy  and  freedom  pervading 
the  German  universities,  and  if  it  can  be  introduced  we  shall 
be  able,  in  spite  of  our  poverty,  to  compete  with  any  institu- 
tion of  this  country.  An  effort  can  overcome  and  correct, 
at  the  expense  of  natural  elasticity,  this  defect,  but  how? 

Introduce  thesis  writing  in  all  senior  classes  as  one  of  the 
requirements  for  graduation  in  each  school,  letting  there  be  at 
least  three  of  these,  whose  entire  value  shall  be  one-third  of 
the  possible  hundred.  This  would  cultivate  a  spirit  of  true 
philosophical  investigation,  and  reduce  the  length  of  examina- 
tions, which  now  is  fourteen  hours,  a  period  that  is  brutal  and 
prohibitable  by  law.  This  capacity  for  contending  with  the 
present  examinations  shows  nothing  but  an  iron  constitution 


488  UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA 

and  hardihood  of  the  student,  and  the  questions  he  can  answer 
under  the  most  untoward  circumstances — often  making  sick; 
the  delicate  students  in  the  preparation.  That  our  graduates 
should  be  untrained  entirely  in  composition  is  an  unpardonable 
deficiency. 

Another  writer  complained  about  extending  the  respective 
collegiate  courses  thus:  This  high  standard  of  scholarship 
confers  the  greatest  advantage  upon  those  whose  only  capital 
for  the  future  is  based  upon  success  in  their  academic  course 
—who,  investing  nearly  all  their  means  in  an  academic  educa- 
tion, desire  to  accumulate  the  greatest  amount  of  knowledge 
not  under  the  influence  of  the  noble  Baconian  maxim,  "  Knowl- 
edge is  power,"  but  under  the  more  vital  principle,  "  Knowl- 
edge is  bread."  Too  many  of  us  hope  to  earn  a  livelihood  by 
teaching.  Colleges  are  more  for  those  of  average  intellect, 
as  men  of  superior  qualifications  will  find  no  trouble  to  suc- 
ceed. A  college  should  aim  at  the  divine  theory,  "  the  greatest 
good  for  the  greatest  number."  Our  object  is  to  succeed  here 
in  getting  diplomas,  as  they  bring  recommendations  and  situa- 
tions. Those  who  enter  the  University  hoping  to  acquire  a 
liberal  education — a  term  which  we  know  will  cast  only  a 
shadow  of  meaning  to  many,  but  to  others  it  is  not  the  less 
real  and  substantial — encounter  those  intending  to  become 
teachers  who  believe  in  the  essential  feature  of  passing  ex- 
aminations, which  now  has  become  public  sentiment,  and  that 
those  seeking  only  a  liberal  education  are  under  the  ban  of 
moral  condemnation  if  they  come  here  in  our  midst  upon  the 
principle  to  stand  no  examinations,  although  far  from  idle  in 
their  studies.  They  lose  caste.  He  must  either  study  very 
hard  to  the  exclusion  of  whatever  else  may  have  claim  upon 
him  or  drop  through  like  a  dead  weight.  One  is  clever  in 
proportion  to  one's  powers  of  remembrance  and  endurance. 
If  you  fall  short  you  are  considered  a  nondescript — one  who 
has  to  bear  the  brunt,  but  yet  under  normal  conditions  he 
ought  to  constitute  the  backbone  of  this  University.  It  is  he 
who  ought  to  constitute  the  leavening  of  the  whole,  but  now 
he  is  pushed  out  beyond  the  pale  and  must  bear  and  suffer 
in  injurious  silence.  We  are  so  much  occupied  with  mind- 
cultivation  that  all  else  seems  insignificant  and  unworthy,  but 
it  needs  more  than  mind  to  battle  our  personal  welfare  in  life. 


Janitor,  Uncle  Henry  Martin,  at  seventy 
1825— 


See  page  45? 


FACING    488 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  489 

We  should  have  been  located  near  a  large  city  to  prevent  be- 
coming a  little  world  unto  ourselves.  In  the  law  department 
instead  of  two  years  it  should  be  more.  What  is  to  be  gained 
by  the  process  of  cram  ? 

As  a  result  of  these  articles  the  editors  of  the  Magazine  in 
one  of  its  numbers  made  this  comment:  "  We  object' to  this 
system  of  hot-house  training  so  long  in  force  at  this  Uni- 
versity. We  have  too  much  cramming.  The  object  of  edu- 
cation is  culture;  information,  experience  and  instruction  are 
the  collateral  issues  of  education — some  of  the  many  means 
which  bring  about  educational  training.  A  man  of  culture 
is  one  with  quickness  of  perception  and  happiness  of  expres- 
sion, and  correct  and  delicate  taste — the  synonym  of  refine- 
ment, which  unless  spontaneous  is  a  plant  of  slow  growth  and 
tender  constitution,  likely  to  be  killed  by  too  much  culture  as 
it  is  to  be  dwarfed  by  too  little.  To  develop  this  faculty  is 
a  slow,  long-continued  and  careful  course  of  study,  which 
will  bring  one  in  contact  with  the  great  masters  and  standard 
writers,  and  will  lead  him  to  draw  to  himself  what  he  can  of 
their  spirit — this  will  acquaint  him  with  a  correct  appreciation 
of  the  beautiful,  the  true  and  the  good.  Time  is  essential  for 
culture,  and  culture  is  the  proper  end  of  education,  therefore 
our  system  here  of  allowing  a  raw  clod-hopper  to  take  a  full 
ticket  in  a  year  and  to  graduate  in  law,  medicine,  etc.,  is 
absolutely  preposterous.  Who  would  employ  such  when  skill, 
knowledge  and  address  were  needed?  We  should  require 
fixed  standards  of  age  and  of  scholarship — preliminary  exam- 
inations in  every  academic  school.  A  two  or  three  year 
alumnus  is  one  of  taste,  training  and  address,  while  a  man 
of  one  year  is  a  youth  as  much  characterized  by  the  absence 
of  these  qualities  as  by  the  awkward  presence  of  their  oppo- 
sites.  The  fewer  of  the  latter  we  have  the  better  for  us." 

I  do  not  believe  that  any  of  these  short-comings,  as  alleged 
by  students,  found  the  slightest  recognition  by  those  in  power 
and  authority  during  my  years  at  the  University.  Later, 
however,  many  changes  were  made,  some  in  accordance  with 
these  earlier  complaints — enlarging  the  curriculum,  giving 
latitude  in  studies  leading  to  academic  degrees,  and  requiring 
longer  attendance  for  graduation  in  professional  schools. 

Be  the  effect  of  these  articles  upon  other  students  what  it 


490  UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA 

may,  they  were  timely  and  fruitful  to  me,  inasmuch  as  the 
thesis  proposition  became  the  initiative  of  an  effort  to  improve 
English  composition  and  to  foster  modestly  historic  research 
— to  the  extent  of  becoming  a  correspondent  to  one  of  my 
home  newspapers,  Delaware  Gazette,  whereby  at  convenient 
intervals  communications  of  one,  two  or  three  columns  ap- 
peared under  the  various  headings :  A  University  as  Founded 
by  Jefferson;  Monticello — the  Home  of  Jefferson;  Memorial 
of  Colonel  Thomas  Jefferson  Randolph;  Colonial  Homes  in 
Albemarle  County;  College  Secret  Fraternities;  Commence- 
ments, etc.  I  do  not  think,  however,  that  the  majority  of 
students  were  captious  critics,  in  sympathy  with  these  writers, 
but  rather  held  up  our  prevailing  methods  and  high  standard 
as  redeeming  features — that  of  which  to  be  proud  and  be- 
yond criticism. 

We  certainly  recognized  that  geniuses  were  born — not  made ; 
that  any  college  community  could  possess  only  a  few;  that 
most  of  us  were  without  minds  of  great  originality,  unable  to 
become  exceptional  investigators  irrespective  of  developing 
processes  used,  and  that  our  only  salvation  lay  in  each  culti- 
vating as  best  he  could  his  own  garden — inherent  soil — mak- 
ing it  an  actual  storehouse  of  general  or  specific  knowledge. 
Our  ambition  appeared  to  be  in  "  doing  the  best  and  leaving 
the  rest."  Few  speculated  on  the  distant  morrow.  I  for  one 
did  little  of  that,  being  satisfied  with  troubles  present  without 
borrowing  from  the  future,  realizing  it  was  for  me  always  to 
be  ready  to  meet  duty  and  to  discharge  it — an  invaluable  les- 
son in  educational  training.  I  admit  we  had  an  ungovernable 
thirst  for  diplomas,  but,  after  all,  the  pride  was  more  in  the 
knowledge  we  thought  they  represented  than  in  the  sheep- 
skins themselves.  The  requirements  were  high  and  the  exam- 
inations most  searching — unnecessarily  so — but  we  knew  that 
to  be  the  spirit  of  the  place,  possibly  its  greatest  asset.  The 
fact  is,  "  a  little  knowledge  is  a  dangerous  thing,"  and  there 
is  only  one  way  to  master  a  subject — to  know  it.  The  Univer- 
sity courses  simply  unfolded  the  great  truths  of  each  depart- 
ment and  anything  short  of  that  would  have  been  undesirable, 
indeed  deplorable.  The  examinations  contained  nothing  easy 
or  moderately  so ;  on  the  contrary  the  most  difficult  and  intri- 
cate points  were  included,  thereby  requiring  most  thorough 


UNIVERSITY    OF    VIRGINIA  491 

preparation  in  advance  as  well  as  careful  thought  and  reason- 
ing on  the  day  of  trial,  amid  conditions — high  mental  pressure 
and  apprehension — little  calculated  for  best  results.  Fancy, 
if  you  please,  after  enjoying  Professor  Smith's  delightful 
talks  and  experiments  on  mechanics,  dynamics,  hydrostatics, 
acoustics,  heat  and  light,  and  expecting  on  examination  not 
less  than  three  problems — sufficient  if  wrong  to  prevent  one 
passing — encountering  ten  mathematical  enigmas,  one  for 
each  block,  which  to  work  and  prove  required  that  many 
hours,  and  you  have  the  character  of  those  tasks.  Success 
after  such  a  contest  was  a  source  of  much  temporary  pleasure 
but  always  saddened  by  the  many  companions  who  fell  on  the 
wayside. 

As  I  look  back  from  such  a  remote  distance  upon  my  Uni- 
versity training,  in  full  consciousness  of  its  strength  and 
weakness,  I  can  but  emphasize  above  all  others  the  one  char- 
acteristic of  the  institution  that  implanted  itself  upon  my 
nature  and  has  stood  me  for  greatest  good — her  aim  at  thor- 
oughness, deep-seated  treasures,  the  truth,  the  whole  truth,  and 
nothing  but  the  truth ;  an  aversion  to  everything  shallow,  de- 
ceptive and  superficial.  If  one  carries  away  from  her,  and 
he  must  if  he  be  a  thoughtful  student,  that  wholesome  lesson 
and  continues  to  apply  it  in  the  details  of  his  vocation,  be  that 
what  it  may,  he  will  find  that  he  could  have  afforded  better  to 
sacrifice  all  things  else  within  that  training,  even  the  learning, 
for  that  can  be  recovered  by  the  same  goodly  spirit — faithful 
application.  Men  may  go  there  for  only  one  or  two  years, 
may  have  graduated  previously  or  afterwards  from  reputable 
institutions,  for  which  the  kindest  feelings  are  maintained,  but 
they  will  never  disclaim  having  worshiped  at  her  shrine  or  deny 
a  certain  peculiar  gratitude  for  her  student-life,  dominated  so 
thoroughly  as  it  is  by  that  priceless  inheritance  of  the  older 
regime,  which  to-day  the  world  most  needs  and  commends* 
itself  to  all  alike  as  man's  best  and  safest  living  principle — 
an  honest  struggle  for  thoroughness  and  truthfulness. 


INDEX 


INDEX 

Adams,  John— 45,  51,  60,  63,  65,  74,   Brooks,  J.  St.  €.—278,  280 

115,  177  Brown,  John— 275 

Agassiz,  Louis — 215,  274  Bryson,  J.  H. — 425 

African   Colonization — 124  Bull  Run — 183 

Albemarle  Academy— 85,  89  Bullock,  €.—213 

Albemarle  Pippin — 188  Buildings,   Additional — 129,    130 

Alexander,  W.  R. — 248  Burr,  A. — 66,  71,  212,  214,  216 

Alexandria — 176,  180  Burwell,  Miss  R. — 41 
Alien  and  Sedition  Acts — 65 
Almond,  M.   B.— 294 

Ambler,  J.— 41  Carr,  D.— 42,  44,  219 

Antietam — 187,  189  Carr,  P. — 89,  93,  97 

Antrim,  Miss  E. — 316,  359  Cabell,  J.  C— 83,  99,  100,  102,  10,3, 

Appomattox— 179,  377  104,  no,  113,  118,  119,  120,  124, 

Arlington— 177  125,  131,  132,  134 
Army   of    Northern   Virginia— 187,   Cabell,  Mrs.  J.  L.— 286 

189,  190,  191,  345  Carr,   Chancellor— 132 

Army    of    the    Potomac — 187,  189,    Capitol — 68,  176 

190  Catholics — 48 

Ashlawn— 91  Catletts— 186 

Cedar  Mountain — 189 
Central  College— 90,  91,  93,  97,  98, 

Baldwin,  Mr.— 104,  105  99,  101,  102,  104 

Baltimore — 174  Central  Hotel — 195,  241 

Bank  Failures — 311  Chambersburg — 383 

Barbary  Powers — 52,   115  Chancellorsville — 189 

Barbour,  B.  J. — 250,  295,  297  Charlottesville — 103,  195,  224 

Barringer,  P.  B. — 272,  337  Charter  of  Rights — 54 

Baseball— 340,  358,  464  Chase,  S.— 70 

Bayard,  J.  A.— 67  Cleveland,  G.— 213 

Bayard,   T.   R— 246,   257,  261,  266,   Clifton   (Union  Mills)— 183 

269,  302  Clay,  H.— 41,  161,  162 

Bealeton— 187  Clough,  W.  L.— 341 

Bellevue    Hospital — 277  Coleman,  A.  L. — 245 

Blakey,  T.  £.—318,  323  Colley,  J.  D.— 318,  322 

Blue  Licks — 164,  166  Competitor — 131 

Board  of  Visitors — 91  Con  way,  F.  E. — 318,  322 

Boiling,  T.— 42  Constitution— 122,  136 

Botetourt,  Gov. — 43  Chesapeake — 71 

Brandy- 188  Cooper,   E.   T.— 329,  330,  332,  334, 

Brantly,  W.  T.— 293  447 

Breckinridge,  J.   C— 165  Cooper,  R.  M.— 294 

Breckinridge,  R.  J.— 105  Cooper,  T.— 81,  84,  89,  92,  93,  105, 

Brent,  F.   P.— 281  107,  108,  116 

Broadus,  J.  A.— 251,  256,  257,  262,   Cooper,  W.— 257 

360,  426  Congressional  Library — 86 

495 


496 


INDEX 


Constitutional  Law — 132 

Count  Montmorin — 54 

Cowen,  J.  K.— 475 

Coxe,  T.— 60 

Culberson,  C.  A.— 338,  361 

Culbreth,  D.  M.  R.— 168,  169,  240* 

Culbreth,  R.  B.— 172* 

Culbreth,  S.  G.— 172  * 

Culpeper — 188 

Curry,  J.  L.  M.— 257 


Dabney,  C.  W.— 292 

Dabney,  R.  L. — 292 

Dame,  W.  M.— 333 

Daniel,  J.  W.— 361,  435 

Davis,  C.  A.,  Jr.— 310,  312,  315,  319, 

330,  335,  432,  456 
Davis,  J.— 185,  345 
Debates — 23 1-240 
Declaration  House — 47 
Declaration     of     Independence — 35, 

47,  152 

Delaware  College— 158,  165,  169 
Democratic  Corresponding  Societies 

— 61 

Depew,  C.  M.— 417 
Diary  Excerpts — 241-244 
Dickinson   College — 169 
Downing,  H.  H. — 318,  323 
Duke,  Miss  M.— 330,  359 
Duke,  R.  T.  W.,  Jr.— 261,  359 
Duncan,  J.  A. — 279 
Dwight,  T.— 93 
Dykes— 478 


Edgehill— 23,  39,  308,  422 

Ellison,  J.  F.— 338 

Emerson,  R.  W. — 323,  327,  412 

Embargo  Act — 71 

Emory  and  Henry  College — 383 

Episcopal   High   School — 345 

Eppes,  J.  W. — 70 

Excise  Law — 61 


Fairfax— 183 

False  Views  of  Life,  etc.— 288 
Parish,  Miss  E. — A. — J. — 359 
Parish,  F.  P.— 338.  360 
Parish  Hotel— 308,  333 
Fawsett,  G.  D.— 337,  339,  465 
Fauquier,  F. — 41 
Federalists — 121 


Felton  Seminary — 170 
Fenno's  Gazette — 56 
Fitzpatrick,  B. — 292,  294 
Football— 463 
Franklin,  B. — 51,  52,  140 
Fraternities,  Secret — 225,  468 
Freneau's   National   Gazette — 56 
Fredericksburg — 187,  189,  190 


Gait's  Statue— 22 
General,  Banks— 186 

Beauregard— 184,  185,  186 

Burnside— 189      * 

Early— 282,    297 

Ewell— 186,  1 88 

Gordon — 345 

Grant — 177,  186,  188,  189,  209,  444 

Hampton— 273,  276,  334 

Hill,  A.  P.— 161,  186 

Hunter,  D.— 356,  357 

Jackson— 182,    184,    185,    186,    189, 

ipi,  345,  346 

Johnston,  B.  T.— 376 

Johnston,  J.  E.— 185,  377 

Hooker— 186,  189 

Lee,  G.  W.  C.— 345,  354 

Lee,    R.    £.—185,    187,    188,    189, 
190,  191,  343,  348,  377 

Lee,  W.  H.  P.— 188 

McClellan— 186,  187 

McDowell— 184,   185 

Longstreet — 186,  191,  345 

Meade— 186,  188,  189,  190 

Morgan — 161 

Pleasonton — 188 

Pope— 184,  185,  186,  187 

Porter— 187 

Preston — 302 

Rhodes— 345 

Sedgwick— 188 

Sheridan— 352,  435 

Smith,  F.  H.— 345,  354 

Stuart— 188 

Warren— 186 
Gettysburg — 189 

Gilmer,  F.  W.— 124,  127,  131,  133 
Goode,  J.— 281 
Gordonsville — 191,  193 
Goshen  Pass— 350,  352,  358 
Government  Removed  from  Phila- 
delphia— 68 

Government  Arrears — 113,  126,  132 
Graham,  F.  R. — 247 
Grave  of  Gen.  Lee — 355 


INDEX 


497 


297, 


Grave  of  Gen.  Jackson — 354 

Green  Ticket — 206 

Guyot,  A.— 215 

Gymnasium   Association — 317,   466 


Hall,  Lieutenant— 88 

Hamilton,    A.— 55,    56,    57,    64,    67 

H5,  264 

Hampden-Sidney  College — 112,   120 
Hanckel,  Rev.  Dr.— 273,  309 
Harding,  E.  €.—315,  449 
Harris,  John  £.—335 
Hartford  Convention — 75 
Harvard — no 
Henry,  P.— 44,  45,  87 
Hoge,  M.   D.— 322 
Holliday,  F.  W.  M.— 327 
Home-letters — 204,    224,    272,    276, 

277,  278,  309,  3io,  311,  313,  3i6, 

318,  319,  329,  330,  331,  333,  337, 

339,  359 
Hunter,   R.    M.    T— 144,   280, 

412 

Invitations  to  Receptions — 280 
Irby,    J.    R.    McD.— 465 
Italian  Stone  Cutters — 106 
Ives,  F.  B.— 466 

Jasper,  J.— 320 

Jay  Treaty— 61,  63 

Jeff  (erson)   Society— 225,  231,  247, 

285 

Jefferson   College— 154,   165,  169 
Jefferson,  Jane — 41,  42 
Jefferson,    Martha — 32,    34,    44,    46, 

Si,  59,  219 

Jefferson,  Mary — 42,  46,  59,  70,  219 
Jefferson,  Peter — 39 
Jefferson,     Thomas — 21,     153,     196, 
218,  263,  297: 

Adams'  eulogy — 45 

ablest  State  paper — 56 

aiding  new  French  government — 

54 

at  school  and  college — 40 
characteristics — 25,   30 
correspondence — 53,    76 
crippled  wrist — 75 
death,  funeral — 142 
devoured  by  visitors — 33 
description  of  Hamilton — 55 
diffusion    of    knowledge — 49,    77, 

79 


Donaldson's  eulogy — 151 
drafted  Declaration  of  Independ- 
ence—47 

educational  bill — 97 
elected  to  Congress — 51 
elected    to    Continental    Congress 

—45 

envoy  to  France — 47 

epigrams — 37 

fight  for  reform — 48 

financial   depletion — 31,    138 

fine   scholar — 42 

Governor — 50 

greatness  and  impress  upon  man- 
kind— 144 

idea  of  nullification — 65 

inauguration — 69 

last    report — 140 

library  sold  to  Congress — 86 

Louisiana   Territory — 70 

marriage — 44 

member   of   Burgesses — 43 

member  of  House  of  Delegates — 

47 

Minister  to  Europe — 51 
Minister  to  France — 51 
Northwestern  Territory — 51 
President— 66-68 
principles — 36,  69 
public  acts — 35 
rector  of  University — 105 
reconciliation  with  Adams — 74 
re-elected  President — 70 
religious    freedom    and    slavery — 

49 

religious  belief — 108,  114 
retires   to    Monticello — 59,    72 
Secretary  of  State— 54 
sickness — 142 

students'    appreciation — 25,   36 
wanted  for  President  third  term 

—74 

wife's   sickness   and  death — 50-51 
versatile   worker — 53 
Vice-President — 62 
Jocose   letter   of  American    Citizen 

—137 

Johnson,  R. — 278 
Johnston,  G.   B. — 292,  294 
Jones,  J.  W.— 247,  291 
Junkin,  G. — 345 

Kemper,  Gov. — 301,  302 
Kennard,  Judge — 283 
Kent,   W.    P.— 363 


INDEX 


Keswick — 193 

Kirkpatrick,  Rev.  Dr.— 346,  354 
Knox,  H.— 55,  57,  US,  182 
cx  Dr.  S.— 84,  92 


Lamb,  J.  C— 339 

Lawrence,  A. — 154 

Lawrenceville — 211,    212 

Lawton,  Mr. — 208 

Leander — 71 

Lee,  R.  £,—348 

Lee,  R.  H'.— 47 

Lee,  Mrs.  M.  R.  C. — 350 

Legislature— 112,   113,   137,   138 

Leopold — 71 

L'Engle,   W.  J.-339 

Levy,  J.  M. — 223 

Levi,  Leo.  N. — 292,  294,  327 

Lewis  Brooks  Museum — 130,  463 

Lexington,  Ky. — 162,   165,  167 

Lexington,  Va. — 93,  101,  102,  340 

Libby   Prison — 167 

Library — original — 24 

Letter    (Jefferson's)    to : 

Adams,    John— 60,    87,    88,    107, 
109,  114,  H5,  122 

Adams,   J.    Quincy — 140 

Burwell^-89 

Breckenridge,   Gen. — in 

Cabell,  J.  C. — 90,  98,  99,  105,  no, 
118,  130,  137,  366 

Cooper,  Dr.  T.— 85,  86 

Gallatin— 118 

Giles— 135 

Johnson,  Judge — 121 

Jones,  Dr.— 87 

Kosciusko — 73 

Madison — 61,   62,  63,   65,    138 

Monroe — 57,  68,  123 

Lafayette— 53,  123 

Priestley,   Dr.   J.— 81 

Rush,  Dr.  B.— 74 

Smith,  J.— 117 

Sparks,  Jared — 124 

Taylor,  J.-88 

Utley,  Dr.— 29 

Van  Buren,   M. — 126 

Washington — 60 

Waterhouse,  Dr. — 114 

Weightman — 141 
Lincoln,   A. — 275 
Lincoln,  Mrs.  A. — 167 
Literary  Fund — go,  92,  94,  100,  103, 
107,  no 


Lives  of  Jefferson: 

Randolph — 23,  278 

Randall— 23,  25 

Schmucker — 23 

Tucker— 21,  23,  142 
Lord    North's    Conciliatory    Propo- 
sition— 45,  46 

Lucas,  D.  B.— 280,  284,  285,  295 
Lynchburg — 363,  377 


Macfarland,   J.    M.— 339 
McBryde,  R.  J.— 312,  322,  323,  360, 

361 

McGary,  Major — 164 
McCosh,  J.— 214,  275 
McKim,  R.  H.— 288 
McPberson,  Dr. — 211 
Manassas, — Gap — 184,    185,    186 
Madison,  J. — 50,  72,  101 
Manufactures — 75 
Martin,    H. — 457 
Marshall,   Charles — 199 
Marshall,  Chief  Justice — 41,  57,  69, 

7i 

Massachusetts    Institute    of    Tech- 
nology— 388 
Maury,  J. — 40 

Maury,  M.  F—  341,  345,  350 
Maury,  R.  H. — 247 
May  Queen — 223,  278 
Medalists — 226,  228 
Meikleham,     Septima     Randolph — 

151 
Mercer,  C.  F.— Bill— 90,  92,  93,  95, 

96,  97 

Milburn,  W.  H.— 284 
Miller,   S.— 448 
Minister,  Genet— 56,  57,  58 
Minister,   Morris — 56 
Minor,  Mrs.   M.   M. — 419 
Minstrel  Troupe — 334 
Mitchell— 189 
Mitchell,  Dr.   S.— 93 
Monroe,  J. — 63,  72,  88,  93,  101,  200 
Monroe  Doctrine — 123,  264 
Monticello— 31,  32,  33,  43,  194,  215, 

310 

Monticello    Guards — 333 
Mosby,  J.  S.— 186,  187 
Montesquieu — 264 
Montpelier — 191 
Murkland,  W.   U.— 317 


INDEX 


499 


National  University — 81,  82 
Nation's  bad  credit  abroad — 52 
Natural  Bridge — 341 
Natural    and    Permanent    Function 

of  the  Scholar— 325 
Navy— Jefferson's  child— 52,  115 
Nemours,  Mons.  Dupont  de — 82 
Nicol,  C.  K— 292,  294 
Nicholas,   Gov.   W.    C— 33,  91,  92, 

93,  94,  99  . 

Notes  on  Virginia — 51 
Novels  disapproved— 89 

Orange — 190 

Orange  and  Alexandria  R.  R. — 181 

Orators — 226,  228 

Palladio,  A.— 128 

Pavilions — 106 

Peaks  of  Otter— 217,  357 

Penn    National    Bank   Building — 47 

Pennsylvania   Revolts — 61 

Pendleton,  W.  N.— 345 

Perry,  J.— 91,  105 

Peyton,  B.— 318,  323,  457  £ 

Peyton,  Miss  Champe — 450 

Peyton,  M.  G.— 198,  201,  280,  455 

Piedmont  Valley— 195,  351 

Pierce,  F.— 244 

Poe,  E.  A— 24,  299,  454 

Portraits  in  Library — 22 

Powell,  J.  £.—278,  280 

President   of   University — 349 

Preston,  John  S.— 144,  273,  302,  313 

Preston,  Margaret  J.— 345,  350,  354 

Preston,  T.  L  —  273 

Priestley,   Dr.  J.— 81,  84,   107 

Princeton— 85,  no,  210 

Professors — 137,  366: 

Adams,  H.  B. — 94,  127 

Allen,  George — 154 

Blatterman — 24,  133 

Bledsoe— 275,  347 

Boeck— 313,  442 

Bonnycastle— 22,   131,   133 

Bowditch — 109 

Cabell,  J.   L.— 416 

Court  en  ay — 346 

Davis,  J.  S.— 197,  351,  412,  434 

Davis,  N.  K. — 272,  436 

De  Vere— 389 

Dunglison— 22,    131,    133,   143 

Dunnington — 351,  407,  439 

Emmet— 22,  133 


Garnett,  J.  M.— 382 
Gildersleeve — 331,  382,  397,  450 
Harrison,   Gessner — 22,   250,   252, 

384 

Harrison,  J.  F. — 351,  420 
Holcombe — 431 
Holmes,  G.  F.— 408 
Horsford,  Eben  N. — 154 
Howard,  H.— 276 
Key— 22,  131,  133 
Lomax— 133,    140 
Long— 133,  299,  452 
Mallet,  J.  W.— 351,  404 
Maupin,  S. — 22,  435 
McCabe,  W.  G.— 380 
McGuffey — 200,  244,  423 
Minor,  J.  B.— 431 
Nelson,  A.  L. — 346 
Norton,  W.  A. — 154 
Page,  J.  R.— 448 
Peters— 250,  278,  372,  379 
Pictet— £2 

Porter,   John   A. — 154 
Preston,  J.  T.  L.— 345 
Price,  T.  R.— 363,  444,  449 
Rogers,  W.  B.— 307,  327,  387 
Smith,  F.  H.— 384,  394,  427,  431 

491 

Southall— 268,  283,  445 
Thornton— 250,  313,  435 
Ticknor — 109 
Tucker— 131,  133 
Venable— 171,   198,   199,  201,  373, 

451 
Purviance,  Judge — 156 


Quesnay    French    Academy — 80 


Randolph,  Edmund— 43,  55,  57,  60 
Randolph,  Jane — 40 
Randolph,  J.  T.— 359,  360 
Randolph,  Miss  Julia  S. — 318,  359 
Randolph,    Peyton — 44,  45 
Randolph,   T.   J.— 28,   31,    142,   144, 

221,  308 

Randolph,  T.  M.— 59,  70,   144 
Randolph,  J.,   of  Roanoke — 70,  71, 

72 

Randolph,  W. — 40,  59 
Rapidan— 189,    190 
Ransom,  M.   W.   Jr. — 278,  280 
Raymond,  T.  L.— 278,  280 
Rappahannock — 187 


500  INDEX 

Reese,  F.  F—  278,  280  Stephens'      "War      Between      the 

Regatta— 360,    363  States  "—178 

Religious   Fanaticism— 116  Stuart,  A.  G.— 272,  338,  339 

Religious  Seminaries- -117,  118  Stuart,  A.   H.   H. — 361 

Republic— 88  Stuart,   H.   C— 292,  294 
Resolution    establishing    University    Steele,  Charles — 331,  339,  382 

—92  Steel,  S.  A.— 250,  262,  280,  286,  294, 

Reynolds  Brothers— 158,  159  301,  312 

Reynolds,  Frances — 341  Student  Discipline — 133,  137 

Reynolds,  L.  M  — 154,  174,  175  Swann,  T.— 247,  261,  262,  266,  269 

Reynolds,   R.    T. — 261  Summary   View   of   the   Rights    of 

Reynolds,  R.   W. — 160  British  America — 44 

Reynolds,  T.  G. — 342  Swiss    (Geneva)    College — 80,  82 
Rhoads,  L.  T.— 164 
Richmond  Statehouse — 53 

Rives  Boat  Club— 339  Talleyrand— 64 

Rives,  F.  R.— 338  Tarleton's  Raid— 50 

Robinson,   A.    M. — 292,   294  Taylor,   Bayard — 284 

Rochefoucauld-Laincourt — 60  Thorn,   A.    P. — 318,   323 

Rockbridge   Alum    Springs — 415  Thorn,    De  Coursey   W. — 339 

Rotunda— 117,    118,    120,    121,    122,  Thum,  W.  W.— 283,  446 

140  Thoroughfare    Gap — 185,    186 

Rockfish   Gap,  Assembly — 102,   no,  Tilden  and  Hayes  Campaign — 331 

357  Tobacco  City  Club — 339 

Rush,  Dr.— 70,  74,  107  Todd,  L.— 164 

Russell,  Sol  Smith— 465  Todd,  R.— 164 

Ryan,  Father— 281  Tucker,  J.  R.— 354 

Tyler,  Lyon  G. — 272,  292,  294,  318 
Tyler,  S.— 155 

Savage,  J. — 388  Typhoid   Fever   Epidemic — 292 
Saulsbury,  R.   S.— 278,  280 
Semi-Centennial — 283 

Semi-Centennial  Catalogue — 283,  293  United  States  Bank — 55 

Semi-Centennial    Poem — 295  University  of  Virginia : 

Senate — 112,   113  annual   endowment — 107 

Shadwell— 39,  43,   193,   194  architecture— 106 

Sheffield,  .T.  E. — 154  bill   passed — 100 

Shameful  Latinists — 136  buildings,   finished — 91,   117,    127 

Sheckelford,  G.   S.— 337  chartered  seal— 104 

Skelton,  Mrs.  M. — 44  conversion  from  Central  College 

Sledd,  R.   N.— 292  —98 

Slavery — 49,   125  cost — 109 

Slaves  captured  by  Tarleton — 5°  established — 92 

Small,  Dr.  W. — 40  favorable  conditions — 461,  477 

Smith,  A.  K. — 143  gains   favor — 119,    133 

Smith,  Mrs.   S.  H. — 28,  29  location — 101,  102 

Smith,  J.  A. — 93  non-sectarian — 116 

Southall,  J.   A.— 36!  opened— 132 

Spencer,  S. — 444  original  painting — 112 

Spotsylvania — 189  religious    denomination — 116,    118 

Squibb,     E.    H.,    Gymnasinm — 316,  teachings — 138 

466  University  Life : 

States'   Rights — 124,    136  duties  vs.  pleasures-  -460 

Staunton — 93,  101,  102,  104,  339,  352  criticism — 474,  481,  484 

Stephenson,  J.  W. — 247  rules  and  regulations — 469 


INDEX 


SGI 


University  Life : 
selection — 472,   476 
training — 470,  472 


Venable,   Mrs.  C.   S.— 275,  276 
Virginia      Military      Institute — 341, 

344,  357 
Voice   of  Warning — 66 


Walker,  Gov.— 266 

Warrenton  Junction — 186 

Washington — 176 

Washington  College— 99,  120,  341, 


Washim 


lington,  George — 54,  57,  64,  81, 

IIS,  126 
Washington    and   Lee   University — 

339,  340,  344 

Wash   (ington)   Society— 225,  285 
Wayles,  J.— 44 
Webster,   Daniel— 26 
Wertenbaker,   W. — 22,  24,  44,    141, 

452 
White  House— 68,  177 


White,  W.  S.— 345 
Whiteley,  B.  D.— 338,  466 
Wickes,  B.  €.—230,  241,  248 
Wickes,  Judge  J.  A. — 230,  241 
Wickham,  H.— 285 
Wiggins,   Dr.  T.— 213 
Wilderness — 189 
Williams,    Nathaniel    J.— 329,    330, 

333 

Williams,  £.—360 
Williams,  John  Sharp — 248 
William  and  Mary  College — 40,  80, 

83,  103,  112,  120,  131,  387 
Wilson,   H. — 207 
Wilson,  M.  C.— 310,  330,  335 
Wilson,   Woodrow — 435 
Wirt,  W.— 140 
Witherspoon,  T.  D.— 279,  295,  302, 

312,   337,  417,  425 
Woods,  Rev.  E. — 276,  425 
Wright,  C.  B.— 336 
Wythe,  G.— 41,  49 


Yale   College— 169 


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